1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION...

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1 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 3 CHARTER SCHOOL APPEALS COMMISSION HEARING STEPHEN BIKO CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL 4 vs. 5 DUVAL COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS 6 _______________________________________________________ 7 8 LOCATION: 325 W. GAINES STREET 9 CONFERENCE ROOM 1721 10 TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA 11 12 DATE: THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 2013 13 COMMENCED: 12:35 P.M. 14 _______________________________________________________ 15 TRANSCRIBED BY: 16 MICHELLE SUBIA 17 REGISTER PROFESSIONAL REPORTER 18 19 20 PREMIER REPORTING 114 W. 5TH AVENUE 21 TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA (850) 894-0828 22 23 24 25 PREMIER REPORTING (850) 894-0828 premier-reporting.com

Transcript of 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION...

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1 STATE OF FLORIDA

2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

3 CHARTER SCHOOL APPEALS COMMISSION HEARING

STEPHEN BIKO CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL

4

vs

5

DUVAL COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

6

_______________________________________________________

7

8 LOCATION 325 W GAINES STREET

9 CONFERENCE ROOM 1721

10 TALLAHASSEE FLORIDA

11

12 DATE THURSDAY APRIL 4 2013

13 COMMENCED 1235 PM

14 _______________________________________________________

15 TRANSCRIBED BY

16

MICHELLE SUBIA

17 REGISTER PROFESSIONAL REPORTER

18

19

20 PREMIER REPORTING

114 W 5TH AVENUE

21 TALLAHASSEE FLORIDA

(850) 894-0828

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23

24

25

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1 MEMBERS PRESENT

2 DALE CHU CHAIR

3 JENNA HODGENS

4 VERDYA BRADLEY

5 RICHARD MORENO

6 CATHY BRUBAKER

7 SONIA ESPOSITO

8 OSVALDO GARCIA

9

10 OTHER PARTICIPANTS

11 JACQUELINE HITCHCOCK

12 RICHARD SHINE

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14

15

16

17

18

19

20 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER 85

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24

25

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1 P R O C E E D I N G S

2 CHAIRMAN CHU My understanding is that there

3 is a motion from the School District so if I

4 could get the district to present their motion

5 and give the school an opportunity to respond

6 MR McDUFFIE Thank you Good afternoon

7 Chairman Chu Brian McDuffie on behalf of the

8 School Board of Duval County

9 We have filed a motion to amend the motion

10 sheet and essentially the basis of the motion is

11 the current structure of the motion sheet

12 essentially if we look at Issue 1 it sets forth

13 identify seven sections on Issue 1 and it does not

14 create a mechanism for the Commission to vote on

15 each individual section of that issue

16 Consequently once the Commission does the vote

17 particularly on Issue 1 neither party will know

18 exactly what issues or which sections under

19 Issue 1 you would make a determination as to

20 whether is competent substantial evidence to

21 support the denial of the application

22 So what were asking for is that -- were not

23 asking to expand any issues or add any additional

24 issues to the motion sheet Were simply asking

25 that the Commission make a specific ruling on each

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1 of the sections under each of the issues so the

2 parties know exactly what their rulings are with

3 respect to those particular sections And thats

4 really about it

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

6 Would the school like to present your

7 thoughts on this particular motion

8 MS ALEXANDER Sure Well we obviously

9 oppose the motion If you look at the case that

10 you just handled it was grouped and there was a

11 general vote Our view is that if you look at the

12 denial letter in this case there werent actually

13 any reasons listed by the School Board It

14 actually just refers to the evaluation instrument

15 And the only in fact area that we are

16 alleged to have been failing in was the curriculum

17 plan which we dispute and we can prove otherwise

18 But we argue thats really the only even area that

19 we should have to address considering there was

20 absolutely no reasons listed in the denial letter

21 And we dont think that theres any reason

22 under the law to go point by point by point by

23 point Its going to be obvious from the votes of

24 the Commission what their views were on a

25 particular area And the evaluation instrument is

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1 grouped in those fashions just for that very

2 reason because they fall under a particular

3 heading And given the fact that you just did it

4 earlier I dont see any reason to change And I

5 do think we would be prejudiced otherwise Thats

6 our opinion Thank you

7 CHAIRMAN CHU District do you want to

8 respond

9 MR McDUFFIE Sure With respect to the

10 denial letter the statute simply calls for the

11 district to articulate its reasons for denial

12 including the letter and supporting documentation

13 The district when it sent the letter of denial

14 also attached the evaluation instrument which

15 detailed all the reasons for the denial of the

16 applications

17 In addition theres been no prejudice the

18 appellate has responded to each and every one of

19 the denials -- each and every one of the sections

20 in their appeal brief so the appellant knows very

21 well what the issues are before it And again

22 were not extending the issues were simply

23 asking that the issues on the motion sheet be

24 voted on by the Board -- by the Commission Thank

25 you

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the school like to add

2 anything on that Ill give you two

3 opportunities

4 MS ALEXANDER No I appreciate that but

5 no thank you

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Counsel

7 MR SHINE I would just add Chair that

8 youve seen today and youve seen previously that

9 the Appeal Commission is certainly capable of

10 identifying the issues in bullet form under the

11 larger titles of educational plan the

12 organizational plan and then the third being the

13 budgetary issues under the business plan

14 Now theres nothing in the statute that

15 specifically requires that we do 14 issues

16 Theres 14 issues in this case Theres seven in

17 the first I believe three in the second and five

18 in the last

19 We had a one-page denial letter which I

20 respectfully disagree with the School Districts

21 attorney that this meets the letter and intent of

22 the statute The statutes references a denial

23 letter that specifically articulates in writing

24 the specific reasons

25 Well it incorporates by reference the

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1 specific reasons and then you must go back into

2 other documents to find the specific reasons And

3 their evaluation document and their document that

4 they prepared as a summary for the Board in

5 certain cases is contradictory So its a

6 difficult challenge for us to number one put

7 together the issue sheet but number two I think

8 youve seen already your initial instructions were

9 denial of any one of these reasons within any of

10 these bullets under the educational plan

11 constitutes good cause Then one of the members

12 in the last vote further clarified that issue

13 Im certain that the members of the Commission

14 understand that

15 Im certainly not seeing any prejudice to

16 either of the parties in the format that its

17 currently in And I think there is -- and most

18 importantly as youve seen in the prior cases

19 many of these issues are interrelated and the

20 explanation and the proof of whether or not they

21 met any one of the seven standards for the

22 educational plan its in the same area of the

23 application There is crossover between some of

24 the information that prove or disproves whether or

25 not theyve met that standard

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1 So I believe the way we have proposed it I

2 think is certainly consistent with the statutory

3 construct and theres no rule or statute that

4 would require us to do anything different

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counsel

6 I would agree with that I think the way

7 this Commission has historically operated -- I

8 mean we are certainly going to look at all of the

9 issues that currently -shy

10 MS HITCHCOCK Can you speak up

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes Jackie

12 Thank you very much counsel Given the way

13 that this Commission operates I dont see an

14 issue with continuing to operate the way we

15 usually do so your motion is denied So we will

16 continue with the way that we usually operate and

17 go through the various issues

18 Jackie if you would pass out the motion

19 sheets and then we can get started

20 All right We are going to get started So

21 again well give the school 15 minutes to present

22 your case and then well give the district the

23 same amount of time Again certainly being

24 succinct is appreciated

25 So with that proceed

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1 MS ALEXANDER I appreciate it Thank you

2 My name is Stephanie Alexander Im from the law

3 firm of Tripp Scott Im here today to represent

4 Stephen Biko Charter School

5 And with me to my right is Dr Greg Myers

6 Hes the principal and founder of the school and

7 also Joe Whitaker who is on the Board and he is

8 with the Jacksonville Economic Development

9 Council And if I could remember his long title

10 I would tell you what it is but Im sure that he

11 can do that

12 We all know what the law is in terms of the

13 standards so Im going to not really get into that

14 now And we also -- this isnt our first rodeo

15 Its getting late in the afternoon so Im not

16 going to go over it issue by issue in my opening

17 statement here Were going to do that as the

18 issues come up

19 But I wanted you all to understand the nature

20 of this charter school how it came about what

21 the status is of it today because I think thats

22 really important From our perspective the

23 overarching point is we think that -- and we think

24 that we will prove that the application should

25 have been granted And in fact it mirrors an

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1 application that Jacksonville -- Im sorry -- the

2 Duval County School Board actually approved the

3 year before So our opinion is that it should

4 have been sufficient it was sufficient the year

5 before and there really arent differences that

6 would account for the differences in treatment

7 But the more important point and which is

8 why I want you to understand how the charter

9 school got started where it is now and the

10 genesis of it is because I think that youll be

11 as impressed as I was to learn about the history

12 and what is going on now

13 And with that I would like to ask Dr Myers

14 to get up and give you a little five minutes about

15 where things are Thank you

16 DR MYERS Good afternoon everyone

17 Chairperson Board members Excuse me Im a

18 little tall

19 MS HITCHCOCK I think that we can probably

20 hear you Dr Myers you dont have to bend down

21 DR MYERS My name is Dr Myers Gregory

22 Myers educated at Duval County one of their

23 products with the school reared in Duval County

24 from elementary Originally from South America

25 came to the United States in 1968 immigrant

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1 parents West Indian mom Portuguese dad And it

2 was instilled to be the best in this world

3 I was a defiant kid had to be removed from

4 Duval County Public School System But it took a

5 principal that grabbed me and said that you are

6 the best and I believe in you And I went on and

7 graduated from high school received a football

8 scholarship went on to college graduated played

9 some professional football and returned back to

10 receive my masters degree my PhD in health

11 care administration

12 And I wanted to give something back to this

13 county that I represented and I saw a school that

14 was so vibrant and God touched me to say that

15 thats what I want you to do This is all about

16 this building Thats what this whole issue is

17 about Its about this great building the

18 oldest historical African-American high school in

19 the United States

20 They feel as though that Im going to take

21 their kids but this school is about every child

22 in Duval County Ive been granted the

23 opportunity by all the former mayors and the mayor

24 of Jacksonville to succeed in this because they

25 believe in me as an individual as an

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1 African-American to the community and one that

2 can put this together I would be blessed to have

3 a great partner of Joe Whitaker who has worked

4 with me diligently on this

5 The school is open now Weve opened as a

6 private school We had our first graduate this

7 December that went through all of the standards of

8 Duval County She came to us from a failing

9 school a failing school that was not progressing

10 But now she went from scoring a 14 on the ACT to a

11 19 That says that were doing something

12 We have up to 35 kids that are accelerating

13 using a curriculum called APEX curriculum which

14 is in their county They fostered the curriculum

15 Whats wrong with it Nothing

16 I know Im speaking but Im speaking from my

17 heart because this touches me Im one of theirs

18 educator and I have to be treated like this It

19 is wrong and thats how I feel because Im only

20 speaking from my heart And it hurts me today it

21 all hurts me All of this is for -- because this

22 is mirrored off an application that they approved

23 last year last year they approved this

24 application

25 So why should I have to be subject to what

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1 Im going through And it is wrong And Im only

2 speaking from my heart You cant throw me in the

3 garbage can speaking from my heart thats what

4 Im doing today

5 And Im just asking you to give me the

6 opportunity to show these individuals from my

7 county that I can be successful I am being

8 successful with these kids Im doing a great

9 job And former Mayor Delaney he inspired me to

10 do this because he said Greg you are passionate

11 Most individuals that open up charter schools open

12 them up for the wrong reasons they open them up

13 for funds I opening up because I love kids and I

14 want to change lives because Im tired of seeing

15 children go into the prison system and Im tired

16 of seeing children going wayward

17 The young lady that finished our school

18 shes now attending Virginia College received a

19 full scholarship Thats what this is all about

20 And if it could change my life imagine how it

21 could change other lives

22 So thats why it makes me upset it makes me

23 angry because Ive been going through this and

24 its all about this beautiful building Old

25 Stanton High School located right behind the new

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1 courthouse Thats what its all about All this

2 is is just a dog and pony show this is what its

3 about because they feel as though Im going to

4 take the kids from (inaudible) and Andrew Jackson

5 Thank you so much for listening to me and

6 Ill be responding to your questions

7 MS ALEXANDER As you can tell hes very

8 passionate about his school And he was in fact

9 urged by former Mayor Delaney to start the charter

10 school

11 And the building that hes showing and

12 referring to is actually right behind -- as he

13 said its right behind the brand new courthouse

14 And in fact the development authority which Joe

15 Whitaker will speak to has actually pledged funds

16 to refurbish the building And thats where the

17 charter school will be housed

18 And all of those plans are in place but in

19 fact because we dont have charter school

20 approval we cant go forward and get the funds to

21 rehab the school thats right behind the

22 courthouse in downtown Its part of the

23 revitalization district of downtown Jacksonville

24 What he forgot to stay was not only was he a

25 product of the education system in Jacksonville

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1 but he taught in the Duval County Schools for

2 many many years He was a football coach he was

3 a teacher he was an assistant principle he was a

4 principal in fact he ran three Drop In Academy

5 Schools in Duval before in fact deciding to open

6 up the new charter school at the urgence of former

7 Mayor John Delaney who is in fact on his Board

8 and as you all know is now the current President

9 of the University of North Florida So thats

10 really the backdrop of this

11 And Im going to turn it over to Joe

12 Whitaker who is on the Board and will give you a

13 little sense of whats going on with the building

14 so you get a sense of the whole background here

15 Thanks

16 MR WHITAKER Good afternoon My name is

17 Joe Whitaker and Im with the Mayors Office of

18 Economic Development for the City of Jacksonville

19 And I got intrigued by Mr Myers desire to open

20 up a charter school because I ran a loan program

21 for the City and I assisted him in another project

22 that he did to put something back into his

23 neighborhood So Ive watched him and Ive seen

24 his passion and his energy for getting things

25 done

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1 And one of the things that I admire about

2 Dr Myers is that he does what he says hes going

3 to do when he says hes going to do it And

4 thats fairly rare in my opinion

5 I would like to just clear up any other

6 misunderstandings The City of Jacksonville has

7 yet not pledged funds for his project until we

8 have a charter school designation so that we dont

9 waste a lot of time trying to raise money But

10 essentially the Old Stanton High School was built

11 in 1901 and it is now just a shell and it is

12 governed by a not-for-profit Board And we have

13 achieved the first step of the goal and that is

14 they have given us site control

15 So we do have the ability if were granted a

16 charter to be able to go out then and raise the

17 funds to be able to rehabilitate this building and

18 actually put upwards of 400 young students in

19 there in high school

20 And we dont have a high school in downtown

21 Jacksonville and we believe that this opportunity

22 to redevelop the Old Stanton building is a

23 worthwhile endeavor on behalf of our redevelopment

24 efforts and were anxious to do that

25 We have put together a Board that we believe

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1 has the fundraising capacity to be able to

2 generate enough private capital to get this kicked

3 off And the City of Jacksonville has an historic

4 loan fund that we have the ability to be able to

5 get some money from to finish the product And we

6 think its going to be a success

7 Downtown Jacksonville is going through its

8 own renaissance We have people moving downtown

9 and were bringing more retail downtown and our

10 Mayor is focused on rebuilding downtown So we

11 believe that we have an opportunity to be

12 successful

13 I chose to volunteer to be on Gregs Board

14 because I believe in him And we have been

15 working to get other prominent people in the

16 community on this Board so that we can make a

17 difference Thats what this is all about

18 As an economic development professional with

19 the City of Jacksonville for the last 30 years

20 Ive been involved in a lot of projects 156

21 projects since 2001 and weve generated private

22 capital investments of $14 million and weve

23 created 15000 jobs So the group that Im

24 working with we believe that this is achievable

25 But the first step is to get site control we

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1 have that Now the next step is we get the

2 charter then we have the ability to be able to

3 raise the funds you know to put this project

4 together Ill be happy to answer any questions

5 you may have

6 MS ALEXANDER Given that the school has

7 already opened and is successfully educating

8 students we believe that there wasnt good cause

9 in fact to deny the application and we will be

10 happy to answer any questions with respect to the

11 specific categories I just didnt want to go

12 through them twice given that its late in the

13 day So I just wanted to give you a background

14 thats where we are And we respectfully request

15 that you grant our appeal and thank you very

16 much

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

18 Representatives for the district

19 MR McDUFFIE Thank you members of the

20 Commission Again my name is Brian McDuffie

21 Im Executive Director for Policy and Compliance

22 with Duval County Public Schools

23 With me to my left is Ms Jackie Bowen

24 Executive Director for Academic Services

25 Ms Angela Heiney who is Coordinator of Financial

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1 Reporting We also have Karen Chastain who is

2 Chief Legal Officer for the district as well as

3 Shanita Roper and Anita Henry-Smith who are from

4 our charter schools office

5 The first thing that I want to touch upon is

6 the charter school climate in Duval County We

7 approved 13 out of 15 applications that went to

8 the Board during this last cycle We currently

9 have 21 charter schools operating in Duval County

10 And I think if every application or every

11 applicant that had good intentions had their

12 charter school approved there would be an

13 overwhelming number of charter schools It is not

14 necessarily about worthwhile intentions

15 And there has never been any question on our

16 part about the integrity of the people trying to

17 start this charter school none whatsoever They

18 appear to be good people with good intentions It

19 is not about that It is also not about

20 redeveloping downtown Jacksonville It is about

21 the children

22 And thats what we have been given the task

23 of doing as a sponsor to look and make sure that

24 when these applications come in that the children

25 are protected

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1 What Im going to do today is basically

2 provide the Commission with a slight overview with

3 respect to Issue 2 Ms Heiney will talk with

4 respect to Issue 3 And Ms Bowen will talk with

5 respect to Issue 1 just as an overview

6 So moving to Issue 2 governance the first

7 thing -- again keep within the time

8 constraints -- as a highlight the applicant is a

9 private school That in and on its face is a

10 reason for denial If you look at Florida

11 Statutes 100233(3)(b) a private school cannot be

12 a charter school

13 Moving on to management With respect to the

14 management section we were provided with

15 essentially a lot of vague information They

16 failed to give the management structure job

17 descriptions for teachers the administrative

18 positions They failed to give criteria as to how

19 they were going to select teachers And they also

20 failed to describe how they were going to monitor

21 teacher certification as well as how to fill

22 status

23 Based on these measures with respect to

24 Issue 2 under governance and management we feel

25 that the School Board had competent substantial

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1 evidence and good cause to deny the application

2 And next to speak will be Ms Jackie Bowen

3 MS BOWEN Good afternoon Im Jacqueline

4 Bowen the Academic Services Executive Director

5 I do appreciate the applicants passion for

6 students thats why Im here But I would also

7 like to reiterate as our counsel has said that I

8 am not a historical resident of Jacksonville And

9 as we review applications I have no knowledge of

10 many of the historical factors or the political

11 things that are behind it having only been in the

12 city for 12 years My goal and every analysis or

13 review of the complete instructional plan is that

14 it benefit children

15 So in reviewing the actual application there

16 were great deficiencies in the areas of the

17 guiding principles the targeted population was

18 very unclear the education program design the

19 curriculum plan the student performance

20 assessments evaluation the actual educational

21 supporting plan for the ESE population as well as

22 ELL students

23 So for example within this application

24 its supposed to provide any reader or reviewer a

25 very clear picture of what a student will need to

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1 do and what they will experience as they are

2 attending that institution meaning that I should

3 have an understanding of the applicant And the

4 applicant was real clear that he wanted to

5 provide the whole child and provide that

6 experience

7 But it didnt give me a clear understanding

8 or the reviewers upon my team about the

9 structure how the things that were identified

10 were truly going to support and guide teachers

11 decisions to make sure theyre meeting the

12 standards of the NGSS and the Common Core and

13 ultimately graduating

14 The application was indistinguishable between

15 the targeted population because at one point it

16 talked about at-risk students from a particular

17 5-mile geographic dynamics and then it said all

18 students no matter what according to the

19 standard of expectation

20 The applicant briefly described a pre-med

21 program a dual enrollment advanced placement

22 classes And the appeal reiterated the error by

23 describing instructional programs and learning

24 strategies but they failed to provide a clear

25 picture as to how you were going to take

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1 struggling students or any student to that

2 advanced and rigorous curriculum

3 And as we can say that the standard requires

4 the application to explain not only what the

5 school is going to teach but how they were going

6 to teach it I was continually searching which

7 Im not required to do throughout the entire

8 application to see how was this instruction going

9 to be -- what is that child going to experience on

10 a daily basis And it was very unclear

11 Statute 100233 also states that the charter

12 application must have a detailed curriculum plan

13 a curriculum plan not a curriculum resource a

14 plan for instruction that illustrates how those

15 students are going to be provided services to meet

16 those graduation requirements We are in the

17 business of graduating students

18 So the application also didnt provide a very

19 clear reading curriculum They referenced the

20 Just Read Florida Website which Im very happy

21 that they were there supporting but it is a

22 resource document it does not outline a

23 curriculum plan And unfortunately -- and Im

24 saying this in this building -- it really only

25 sports primary education When you get towards

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1 secondary the resources become very limited And

2 I know theyre working on that

3 So the statute requires that we deny the

4 application on the fact that the reading

5 curriculum plan was not sufficient at all

6 Another key issue that was concerning which

7 led to a good cause denial of the application was

8 that a risk of students not being prepared for the

9 FCAT Because they identified assessments which

10 Im very familiar with failed to have the

11 measuring tools that would guide teacher

12 instruction in being able to support deficiencies

13 or make accommodations or get those students ready

14 for that you know accelerated dual enrollment

15 advanced AP or pre-med curriculum

16 Im going to wrap it up because I know

17 everybody is ready to go When we talk about our

18 ELL students and we are doing a lot within our

19 districts to better support all students there

20 was really -- I struggled with finding out how the

21 students were going to enter our school And an

22 ELL student is just one designation because you

23 can have an ELL student that also has an ESE

24 designation and has some little deficiencies in

25 particular other areas

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1 There was no -- they failed to demonstrate

2 how they were going to make choices of selecting

3 the appropriate materials to meet the needs of all

4 students

5 To say we will select resources but there

6 was no clear indication of how those decisions

7 would be made The assessments didnt provide

8 that detailed information to guide that choice so

9 upon that there was no reason but to have a good

10 cause for denial

11 MS HEINEY Good afternoon My name is

12 Angela Heiney H-e-i-n-e-y and I reviewed the

13 business plan for the applicant As an overview

14 the entire business plan did not meet the standard

15 with the exception of the transportation which

16 only partially met the standard

17 There were quite a few reasons that we found

18 for this The biggest -- there were statutory

19 failures all over the place 100233(6)(a)5

20 states that there has to be an annual financial

21 plan based on projected revenues and expenditures

22 What we found is that the revenues and

23 expenditures provided were unsubstantiated

24 unsupported and there was missing money all over

25 the place For example on Page 107 the

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1 applicant states theyre going to take out

2 $500000 in loans to fund their startup however

3 if you look at their five-year business plan

4 there is no repayment for those loans And they

5 provided absolutely no correspondence from any

6 lending institution that says theyre willing to

7 give half a million dollars and not expect a penny

8 back for over five years In this current

9 economic climate that rarely if ever happens

10 Ive never seen it

11 The application and the denial or the

12 response to the denial that was filed -- the

13 notice of appeal -- there were several points that

14 were made in our denial however they never even

15 discussed those

16 For example the application specifically

17 states that they plan on contracting out HR and

18 accounting services however they dont know how

19 much it is so they didnt even include that in

20 their budget For some of our schools that is

21 thousands and thousands of dollars a year just

22 missing

23 Theres inconsistencies Mr Whitaker just

24 stated that the City of Jacksonville has not

25 promised the money However Page 104 states that

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1 they have a verbal commitment There is no

2 evidence of any commitment no letters from former

3 Mayor Delaney no letters from current Mayor

4 Browns office anybody even suggesting that they

5 know who this school is and that theyre willing

6 to support it

7 A second statutory failing occurs again in

8 (6)(a)5 where it states that the application must

9 have a description of controls that safeguard

10 financing

11 During the general help session the

12 applicants were told they must give detailed

13 procedures on certain areas Why Because these

14 are the areas that consistently have fraud

15 errors thefts mistakes We dont like to

16 believe that will happen at schools but frankly

17 bad things do happen

18 They were told you must have accounts

19 payables accounts receivables cash management

20 payroll those areas Why This is where weve

21 seen problems happen There was nothing There

22 was some general policy given on Pages 113 and 14

23 And they state on Page 113 there will be

24 implementation of many internal financial

25 controls however that is not a description of

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1 controls which is what is mandated by the

2 statute

3 Another failing occurs on Statute 21839

4 This statute mandates the use of an independent

5 certified public account for performing annual

6 financial reporting so the audited financial

7 statements which are required

8 In Attachment 7 it states that the same

9 person providing accounting services will also

10 perform the auditing services According to the

11 American Institute of CPAs this is actually a

12 violation of independence and an ethics violation

13 itself So anybody who is willing to do both is

14 not by statute an independent auditor And they

15 have stated in their application thats what

16 theyre going to do

17 When you see one statutory violation that is

18 certainly competent and substantial evidence for

19 denial When you see at least three just in one

20 section now were getting overwhelming grounds

21 for denial

22 But we also saw areas in the facilities where

23 they simply state that they will meet statute

24 Saying youre going to meet statute is not the

25 same as explaining what youre going to do

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1 Theyre stating in their financials that theyre

2 going to have $3 million worth of renovations

3 What on earth are you going to do for $3 million

4 Mr Whitaker stated that the building is just

5 a shell However the application states that it

6 is currently being in use by a daycare for the

7 Urban League So whats going on Theres no

8 consistency between whats being said whats

9 being done in the application

10 In that stance we do not make assumptions

11 We must go with what is written So any verbal

12 statements we cant justify that because all we

13 can hold the applicant to is what has been written

14 in that document

15 We have a problem with food service They

16 state that theyre not going to use NSLP and

17 theyre going to contract a vendor which is

18 perfectly acceptable except their target

19 population is going to be children that are at

20 risk Specifically this is a very high population

21 of children who will qualify for free and reduced

22 lunch What about the kids that cant pay for

23 their food what are they going to do all day in

24 class We cant starve children thats wrong

25 Theres no money in the budget for -shy

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

2 MS HEINEY Im sorry

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

4 MS HEINEY Theres no money in the budget

5 for food so theres no money theres no plan

6 And this is an area that has direct effect on

7 health and well-being of the children

8 The action plan that they gave is completely

9 unrealistic and does not meet up against their

10 academic standards For example they state that

11 theyre going to use Achieve 3000 Achieve 3000

12 is a difficult product to use It does require

13 training

14 And the startup budget and the statement of

15 cash flow is there is no money whatsoever for

16 teacher training So are these teachers supposed

17 to walk in on their first day knowing how to use

18 it The action plan says theres going to be

19 training but theres no money for it so how are

20 you going do it As I said theres quite a bit

21 of reasons And if you have any questions we

22 would be more than happy to respond

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay This takes us to

24 Issue 1 whether the applicant failed to comply

25 with the educational plan regarding guiding

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1 principles target population educational program

2 design curriculum plan student performance

3 assessment and evaluation exceptional students

4 and English language learners

5 So the school if you want to have a couple

6 of minutes to speak directly to the educational

7 plan and then well give the district the same

8 amount of time

9 MS ALEXANDER Sure With respect to the

10 mission statement we believe that the denial was

11 not supported by competent substantial evidence in

12 any way For example the School Board alleges

13 that we didnt provide an adequate mission

14 statement or describe how the school utilizes

15 guiding principles

16 As you can kind of get the sense from hearing

17 Dr Myers hes got a pretty sophisticated sense

18 of mission And with respect to the mission

19 statement the application specifically says on

20 Page 4 The mission statement of the charter high

21 school is to provide an exemplary personalized

22 learning program in a supportive resource rich

23 contemporary learning environment Stephen Biko

24 Charter High School is dedicated to excellence and

25 committed to nurturing passionate lifelong

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1 learners

2 It also says that The school will meet the

3 high standards of student achievement by

4 supporting positive academic outcomes for students

5 by addressing the academic social economical -shy

6 Im sorry -- emotional and behavioral needs of

7 enrolled students And it says that High

8 standards will be evident which will offer parents

9 and guardians of students currently attending the

10 elementary and charter schools of Duval County the

11 flexibility to choose the school

12 So our view is that if you actually look at

13 the application there is a specific mission its

14 very clear and in fact weve met the standard

15 Just as an aside there was a reference to a

16 private school cant be a charter school

17 Dr Myers started the private school on donations

18 alone in the interim because he wanted to try to

19 start offering education to the average students

20 as quickly as possible He consulted with the DOE

21 and was told that in fact he could open up the

22 school and that if the charter is granted he

23 could transition from the private school into the

24 charter model so there isnt any prohibition

25 against how hes doing it

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1 But our view is if you look at the

2 application there is a clear mission its

3 outlined there and it did meet the standard So

4 thank you

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

6 District

7 DR MYERS Can I

8 CHAIRMAN CHU You have about 30 seconds

9 DR MYERS Thank you I contacted the

10 Department of Education and they expressed to me

11 that I have to close the school and once I close

12 the school every child has to apply So that was

13 done prior to opening up the private school

14 As they stated theres nowhere in that

15 application where it states (inaudible) So all

16 of these things are preposterous in what theyre

17 saying and its just things that theyre trying

18 to elaborate to make the application look bad

19 As I expressed to you Board members this

20 application was approved similar last year It

21 was the exact application So everything that

22 shes coming up with and all three of them does

23 not make sense it does not It does not weigh

24 this application God knows it does not And

25 they cannot give you sufficient reasons why

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1 Thats why they come in with all of these

2 fictitious false allegations against this

3 application Thats all theyre doing They

4 approved this application last year they did

5 And thats all Im asking for

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right District

7 MR McDUFFIE Just briefly and I will turn

8 the mic over to Ms Bowen

9 This is the second time youve heard that

10 there was a mirror application from last year I

11 would like to ask the Commission to go to Page 39

12 of the application There is a specific provision

13 in the application which says if the school

14 intends to replicate an existing school design

15 you are supposed to notify the district under E

16 and F in that section

17 In their application that section is blank

18 okay So they are replicating an existing school

19 design they did not notify us of that in the

20 application

21 And secondly that also takes away the

22 innovative factor of the school If theyre

23 replicating an existing school what is innovative

24 about their charter school

25 Just briefly again with respect to that

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1 private school the application is in the name of

2 Stephen Biko Private Charter School so it is a

3 private school that is making the application

4 MS BOWEN I would just like to add that if

5 there was an application that was approved last

6 year within the past five years we would be glad

7 to go back and look if theres a name thats

8 submitted for us to do reference But when we

9 looked through all of our prior applications we

10 could find no areas where there was similar an

11 exact model of an approved application that had

12 already been approved by the district

13 But to respond to point one as far as the

14 guiding principle section the mission statement

15 was general it was vague and it did not describe

16 meaningful or measurable priority It

17 inefficiently defines the values of the school and

18 was inconsistent with the appellants subsequent

19 educational program plan The question of the

20 guidance embedded within question one clearly says

21 that it should explain what the school intends to

22 do for whom and to what degree And I failed to

23 be able to fully answer all of those questions by

24 reading the statement

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Were going to have a QampA

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1 session so what were going to do now is let me

2 ask the Commission members do you have any

3 questions

4 MS BRUBAKER I would like to hear how

5 you -shy

6 DR MYERS Me

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes Dr Myers How you plan

8 on taking those low performing students to be able

9 to do dual enrollment or AP classes

10 DR MYERS Well first of all as those

11 students arrive in the school various testing

12 will be done on those students TABE testing also

13 WRAT4 testing and various things We would look

14 at the matrix of where the kid came from

15 We have a child now that came to us Georgia

16 from one of the schools in Georgia where he was

17 functioning at a lower level The WRAT4 which is

18 designed to motivate the child and test the child

19 TABE test then we get a matrix from that and we

20 set a curriculum for -- excuse me -- we set the

21 curriculum for the child give the child

22 appropriate courses that the child has already

23 taken or retake again

24 So we move the child in small groups which

25 would be one-on-one learning or it could be group

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1 learning activities The chairs in the classroom

2 are set up and a table where one to one and one to

3 one where the child can model the other child and

4 move forward

5 The APEX curriculum which is used in Duval

6 County Public Schools they just finished using

7 the APEX curriculum in one of their failing

8 schools which moved -- increased the grade two

9 grades -- I think one or two grades at Andrew

10 Jackson High School They have the APEX They

11 have several schools in Duval County thats using

12 the APEX curriculum So its a Florida curriculum

13 that is being used

14 As they expressed the application -- when I

15 looked at the application since I was using the

16 APEX curriculum I said okay why not modify this

17 and put it back into context where its being

18 used So what were doing is we just wrote the

19 application in regards to what they wanted They

20 wanted APEX We put the APEX in there Its a

21 proven fact that its successful in their public

22 schools

23 MS ALEXANDER Can you answer her questions

24 I think which is how you are going to move the low

25 learners up to eventually taking the AP test

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1 DR MYERS Right Im sorry I know I only

2 have a few more minutes or a few seconds But

3 eventually as they progress in each area in math

4 science social studies then we test again So

5 we test at the beginning test at the end

6 And as they -- at the midterm level it tells

7 us whether or not theyre going to be remediated

8 in the course or move forward As they move

9 forward we get the curriculum more rigorous again

10 for them and the next course which is in line so

11 basically one on one and group learning is

12 efficient for them Theyre going to have to take

13 the same courses but if theyre testing at lower

14 levels thats where the individualized

15 instruction will help them

16 Did I answer it

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

18 respond to that

19 MR McDUFFIE Ms Bowen would like to

20 respond But I just want to make it also clear

21 that that -- what was just explained verbally is

22 not in the application

23 MS BOWEN The APEX curriculum is about a

24 curriculum for a set population of students as

25 well as the TABE Assessment they test and measure

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1 students basic skills The expectation under the

2 Common Core the FCAT 20 far exceeds that

3 curriculum And yes we have used it with some

4 of our most lowest performing students and Andrew

5 Jackson did make some gains but they still have

6 19 percent of their students are reading

7 proficiently

8 So my concern is with that curriculum I know

9 that there is something that you needed to have a

10 better indication that was going to provide the

11 teacher with a clear pathway of how to meet those

12 gaps By giving me an assessment thats only

13 measuring my minimum skills it does not

14 demonstrate the expectation of the Lexile level

15 thats required for a college entrance And on

16 Page 39 of his application it clearly states for

17 students who are interested in pre-med coursework

18 The expectation for reading cannot be

19 provided with the diagnosis information that you

20 get with a TABE Assessment or an APEX curriculum

21 Page 10 -- Im sorry I said Page 39 its stuck

22 in my head for some reason -- but on Page 10 it

23 talks about pre-med students and the other

24 innovative -- because thats what hes saying

25 its one of the innovative factors of this

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1 program

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you Are there other

3 questions from the Commission members

4 MS BRADLEY I have a question

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Verdya

6 MS BRADLEY My question is for the school

7 the applicant Is this a solely online program

8 DR MYERS No maam Its basically online

9 and direct instruction

10 MS BRADLEY Do you discuss direct

11 instruction in here

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY The reason that I ask that

14 question is the questions in the application asks

15 specifically for a description of the curriculum

16 a description of the reading program And in your

17 responses your responses pretty much tie back to

18 the APEX curriculum so it appears that it is

19 solely reliant on And then all of the

20 documentation that you gave was from the APEX

21 program So I was just wondering is it just

22 solely online

23 DR MYERS The majority of it but theres a

24 piece where the direct instruction is in place

25 with the child because the children are culled

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1 out for the particular course learning for the

2 subject area that theyre doing The regular

3 curriculum comes in -- the APEX Lexile learning

4 comes in Everything is designed where its

5 implemented on the laptop for the child If the

6 child needs direct instruction the child is

7 culled out into an environment where he or she

8 receives the one-on-one instruction

9 MS BRADLEY Did you discuss that in here

10 DR MYERS Im pretty sure I did

11 MS ALEXANDER What page are you looking at

12 for these

13 MS BRADLEY Well it kind of goes back and

14 forth It starts on Page 16 where it starts

15 talking about the educational program and then it

16 gives me probably about 20 30 pages on APEX and

17 then it goes into the reading curriculum But Im

18 not seeing anywhere where theres any supplement

19 to that

20 Because even the question on Page 16 was

21 Describe the proposed reading or educational

22 program it sort of goes through elements of the

23 APEX program Then on Page 68 it says Describe

24 the reading curriculum

25 DR MYERS Yes maam If you look at

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1 the -shy

2 MS HITCHCOCK Stand up please

3 DR MYERS Im sorry

4 CHAIRMAN CHU If you could come to the mic

5 that would be very helpful because our court

6 reporter is trying to get it all down

7 DR MYERS Im sorry The bullet there

8 says Direct instruction individual and small

9 group instruction led by highly-qualified

10 teachers

11 MS ESPOSITO Say the page

12 MS BRADLEY Thats on Page 16 But its

13 just part of the -- its sort of an isolated

14 bullet but it doesnt explain it any further than

15 that You know it doesnt tell me that there is

16 going to be a pull-out portion

17 DR MYERS Right But as I stated I just

18 put a little piece in there because thats just a

19 little piece of the curriculum and thats why I

20 just mentioned a little piece of it there The

21 majority of it is an online based curriculum

22 MS HODGENS I have a question for the

23 school

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

25 MS HODGENS I am confused on the targeted

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1 population Im trying to get it on the motion

2 sheet so Im going to go to targeted population

3 first And I am a little confused on it because I

4 can read what you say on Page 12 And on Page 12

5 you talk about being open to all students and

6 then you talk about low-performing students and

7 then you go back to all students

8 And then when I go to Page 41 the curriculum

9 design you talk about students needing credit

10 recovery And then I continue on and I see AP

11 courses honor courses And again I dont want

12 to allude that I dont believe that kids can do

13 those courses but I want to understand what

14 population youre really looking at

15 DR MYERS Were looking at all students

16 within that demographic And within the

17 demographics it is a lower level You have lower

18 level one level two basically they are coming

19 from the downtown sector area within that 5-mile

20 radius area of the downtown

21 So when I say all students because a

22 charter school cannot deny a student from applying

23 or coming in all students are accepted if they

24 can meet transportation needs to come to school

25 So as I expressed to you thats what

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1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

Page 2: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

2

1 MEMBERS PRESENT

2 DALE CHU CHAIR

3 JENNA HODGENS

4 VERDYA BRADLEY

5 RICHARD MORENO

6 CATHY BRUBAKER

7 SONIA ESPOSITO

8 OSVALDO GARCIA

9

10 OTHER PARTICIPANTS

11 JACQUELINE HITCHCOCK

12 RICHARD SHINE

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER 85

21

22

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24

25

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1 P R O C E E D I N G S

2 CHAIRMAN CHU My understanding is that there

3 is a motion from the School District so if I

4 could get the district to present their motion

5 and give the school an opportunity to respond

6 MR McDUFFIE Thank you Good afternoon

7 Chairman Chu Brian McDuffie on behalf of the

8 School Board of Duval County

9 We have filed a motion to amend the motion

10 sheet and essentially the basis of the motion is

11 the current structure of the motion sheet

12 essentially if we look at Issue 1 it sets forth

13 identify seven sections on Issue 1 and it does not

14 create a mechanism for the Commission to vote on

15 each individual section of that issue

16 Consequently once the Commission does the vote

17 particularly on Issue 1 neither party will know

18 exactly what issues or which sections under

19 Issue 1 you would make a determination as to

20 whether is competent substantial evidence to

21 support the denial of the application

22 So what were asking for is that -- were not

23 asking to expand any issues or add any additional

24 issues to the motion sheet Were simply asking

25 that the Commission make a specific ruling on each

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1 of the sections under each of the issues so the

2 parties know exactly what their rulings are with

3 respect to those particular sections And thats

4 really about it

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

6 Would the school like to present your

7 thoughts on this particular motion

8 MS ALEXANDER Sure Well we obviously

9 oppose the motion If you look at the case that

10 you just handled it was grouped and there was a

11 general vote Our view is that if you look at the

12 denial letter in this case there werent actually

13 any reasons listed by the School Board It

14 actually just refers to the evaluation instrument

15 And the only in fact area that we are

16 alleged to have been failing in was the curriculum

17 plan which we dispute and we can prove otherwise

18 But we argue thats really the only even area that

19 we should have to address considering there was

20 absolutely no reasons listed in the denial letter

21 And we dont think that theres any reason

22 under the law to go point by point by point by

23 point Its going to be obvious from the votes of

24 the Commission what their views were on a

25 particular area And the evaluation instrument is

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1 grouped in those fashions just for that very

2 reason because they fall under a particular

3 heading And given the fact that you just did it

4 earlier I dont see any reason to change And I

5 do think we would be prejudiced otherwise Thats

6 our opinion Thank you

7 CHAIRMAN CHU District do you want to

8 respond

9 MR McDUFFIE Sure With respect to the

10 denial letter the statute simply calls for the

11 district to articulate its reasons for denial

12 including the letter and supporting documentation

13 The district when it sent the letter of denial

14 also attached the evaluation instrument which

15 detailed all the reasons for the denial of the

16 applications

17 In addition theres been no prejudice the

18 appellate has responded to each and every one of

19 the denials -- each and every one of the sections

20 in their appeal brief so the appellant knows very

21 well what the issues are before it And again

22 were not extending the issues were simply

23 asking that the issues on the motion sheet be

24 voted on by the Board -- by the Commission Thank

25 you

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the school like to add

2 anything on that Ill give you two

3 opportunities

4 MS ALEXANDER No I appreciate that but

5 no thank you

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Counsel

7 MR SHINE I would just add Chair that

8 youve seen today and youve seen previously that

9 the Appeal Commission is certainly capable of

10 identifying the issues in bullet form under the

11 larger titles of educational plan the

12 organizational plan and then the third being the

13 budgetary issues under the business plan

14 Now theres nothing in the statute that

15 specifically requires that we do 14 issues

16 Theres 14 issues in this case Theres seven in

17 the first I believe three in the second and five

18 in the last

19 We had a one-page denial letter which I

20 respectfully disagree with the School Districts

21 attorney that this meets the letter and intent of

22 the statute The statutes references a denial

23 letter that specifically articulates in writing

24 the specific reasons

25 Well it incorporates by reference the

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1 specific reasons and then you must go back into

2 other documents to find the specific reasons And

3 their evaluation document and their document that

4 they prepared as a summary for the Board in

5 certain cases is contradictory So its a

6 difficult challenge for us to number one put

7 together the issue sheet but number two I think

8 youve seen already your initial instructions were

9 denial of any one of these reasons within any of

10 these bullets under the educational plan

11 constitutes good cause Then one of the members

12 in the last vote further clarified that issue

13 Im certain that the members of the Commission

14 understand that

15 Im certainly not seeing any prejudice to

16 either of the parties in the format that its

17 currently in And I think there is -- and most

18 importantly as youve seen in the prior cases

19 many of these issues are interrelated and the

20 explanation and the proof of whether or not they

21 met any one of the seven standards for the

22 educational plan its in the same area of the

23 application There is crossover between some of

24 the information that prove or disproves whether or

25 not theyve met that standard

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1 So I believe the way we have proposed it I

2 think is certainly consistent with the statutory

3 construct and theres no rule or statute that

4 would require us to do anything different

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counsel

6 I would agree with that I think the way

7 this Commission has historically operated -- I

8 mean we are certainly going to look at all of the

9 issues that currently -shy

10 MS HITCHCOCK Can you speak up

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes Jackie

12 Thank you very much counsel Given the way

13 that this Commission operates I dont see an

14 issue with continuing to operate the way we

15 usually do so your motion is denied So we will

16 continue with the way that we usually operate and

17 go through the various issues

18 Jackie if you would pass out the motion

19 sheets and then we can get started

20 All right We are going to get started So

21 again well give the school 15 minutes to present

22 your case and then well give the district the

23 same amount of time Again certainly being

24 succinct is appreciated

25 So with that proceed

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1 MS ALEXANDER I appreciate it Thank you

2 My name is Stephanie Alexander Im from the law

3 firm of Tripp Scott Im here today to represent

4 Stephen Biko Charter School

5 And with me to my right is Dr Greg Myers

6 Hes the principal and founder of the school and

7 also Joe Whitaker who is on the Board and he is

8 with the Jacksonville Economic Development

9 Council And if I could remember his long title

10 I would tell you what it is but Im sure that he

11 can do that

12 We all know what the law is in terms of the

13 standards so Im going to not really get into that

14 now And we also -- this isnt our first rodeo

15 Its getting late in the afternoon so Im not

16 going to go over it issue by issue in my opening

17 statement here Were going to do that as the

18 issues come up

19 But I wanted you all to understand the nature

20 of this charter school how it came about what

21 the status is of it today because I think thats

22 really important From our perspective the

23 overarching point is we think that -- and we think

24 that we will prove that the application should

25 have been granted And in fact it mirrors an

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1 application that Jacksonville -- Im sorry -- the

2 Duval County School Board actually approved the

3 year before So our opinion is that it should

4 have been sufficient it was sufficient the year

5 before and there really arent differences that

6 would account for the differences in treatment

7 But the more important point and which is

8 why I want you to understand how the charter

9 school got started where it is now and the

10 genesis of it is because I think that youll be

11 as impressed as I was to learn about the history

12 and what is going on now

13 And with that I would like to ask Dr Myers

14 to get up and give you a little five minutes about

15 where things are Thank you

16 DR MYERS Good afternoon everyone

17 Chairperson Board members Excuse me Im a

18 little tall

19 MS HITCHCOCK I think that we can probably

20 hear you Dr Myers you dont have to bend down

21 DR MYERS My name is Dr Myers Gregory

22 Myers educated at Duval County one of their

23 products with the school reared in Duval County

24 from elementary Originally from South America

25 came to the United States in 1968 immigrant

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1 parents West Indian mom Portuguese dad And it

2 was instilled to be the best in this world

3 I was a defiant kid had to be removed from

4 Duval County Public School System But it took a

5 principal that grabbed me and said that you are

6 the best and I believe in you And I went on and

7 graduated from high school received a football

8 scholarship went on to college graduated played

9 some professional football and returned back to

10 receive my masters degree my PhD in health

11 care administration

12 And I wanted to give something back to this

13 county that I represented and I saw a school that

14 was so vibrant and God touched me to say that

15 thats what I want you to do This is all about

16 this building Thats what this whole issue is

17 about Its about this great building the

18 oldest historical African-American high school in

19 the United States

20 They feel as though that Im going to take

21 their kids but this school is about every child

22 in Duval County Ive been granted the

23 opportunity by all the former mayors and the mayor

24 of Jacksonville to succeed in this because they

25 believe in me as an individual as an

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1 African-American to the community and one that

2 can put this together I would be blessed to have

3 a great partner of Joe Whitaker who has worked

4 with me diligently on this

5 The school is open now Weve opened as a

6 private school We had our first graduate this

7 December that went through all of the standards of

8 Duval County She came to us from a failing

9 school a failing school that was not progressing

10 But now she went from scoring a 14 on the ACT to a

11 19 That says that were doing something

12 We have up to 35 kids that are accelerating

13 using a curriculum called APEX curriculum which

14 is in their county They fostered the curriculum

15 Whats wrong with it Nothing

16 I know Im speaking but Im speaking from my

17 heart because this touches me Im one of theirs

18 educator and I have to be treated like this It

19 is wrong and thats how I feel because Im only

20 speaking from my heart And it hurts me today it

21 all hurts me All of this is for -- because this

22 is mirrored off an application that they approved

23 last year last year they approved this

24 application

25 So why should I have to be subject to what

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1 Im going through And it is wrong And Im only

2 speaking from my heart You cant throw me in the

3 garbage can speaking from my heart thats what

4 Im doing today

5 And Im just asking you to give me the

6 opportunity to show these individuals from my

7 county that I can be successful I am being

8 successful with these kids Im doing a great

9 job And former Mayor Delaney he inspired me to

10 do this because he said Greg you are passionate

11 Most individuals that open up charter schools open

12 them up for the wrong reasons they open them up

13 for funds I opening up because I love kids and I

14 want to change lives because Im tired of seeing

15 children go into the prison system and Im tired

16 of seeing children going wayward

17 The young lady that finished our school

18 shes now attending Virginia College received a

19 full scholarship Thats what this is all about

20 And if it could change my life imagine how it

21 could change other lives

22 So thats why it makes me upset it makes me

23 angry because Ive been going through this and

24 its all about this beautiful building Old

25 Stanton High School located right behind the new

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1 courthouse Thats what its all about All this

2 is is just a dog and pony show this is what its

3 about because they feel as though Im going to

4 take the kids from (inaudible) and Andrew Jackson

5 Thank you so much for listening to me and

6 Ill be responding to your questions

7 MS ALEXANDER As you can tell hes very

8 passionate about his school And he was in fact

9 urged by former Mayor Delaney to start the charter

10 school

11 And the building that hes showing and

12 referring to is actually right behind -- as he

13 said its right behind the brand new courthouse

14 And in fact the development authority which Joe

15 Whitaker will speak to has actually pledged funds

16 to refurbish the building And thats where the

17 charter school will be housed

18 And all of those plans are in place but in

19 fact because we dont have charter school

20 approval we cant go forward and get the funds to

21 rehab the school thats right behind the

22 courthouse in downtown Its part of the

23 revitalization district of downtown Jacksonville

24 What he forgot to stay was not only was he a

25 product of the education system in Jacksonville

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1 but he taught in the Duval County Schools for

2 many many years He was a football coach he was

3 a teacher he was an assistant principle he was a

4 principal in fact he ran three Drop In Academy

5 Schools in Duval before in fact deciding to open

6 up the new charter school at the urgence of former

7 Mayor John Delaney who is in fact on his Board

8 and as you all know is now the current President

9 of the University of North Florida So thats

10 really the backdrop of this

11 And Im going to turn it over to Joe

12 Whitaker who is on the Board and will give you a

13 little sense of whats going on with the building

14 so you get a sense of the whole background here

15 Thanks

16 MR WHITAKER Good afternoon My name is

17 Joe Whitaker and Im with the Mayors Office of

18 Economic Development for the City of Jacksonville

19 And I got intrigued by Mr Myers desire to open

20 up a charter school because I ran a loan program

21 for the City and I assisted him in another project

22 that he did to put something back into his

23 neighborhood So Ive watched him and Ive seen

24 his passion and his energy for getting things

25 done

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1 And one of the things that I admire about

2 Dr Myers is that he does what he says hes going

3 to do when he says hes going to do it And

4 thats fairly rare in my opinion

5 I would like to just clear up any other

6 misunderstandings The City of Jacksonville has

7 yet not pledged funds for his project until we

8 have a charter school designation so that we dont

9 waste a lot of time trying to raise money But

10 essentially the Old Stanton High School was built

11 in 1901 and it is now just a shell and it is

12 governed by a not-for-profit Board And we have

13 achieved the first step of the goal and that is

14 they have given us site control

15 So we do have the ability if were granted a

16 charter to be able to go out then and raise the

17 funds to be able to rehabilitate this building and

18 actually put upwards of 400 young students in

19 there in high school

20 And we dont have a high school in downtown

21 Jacksonville and we believe that this opportunity

22 to redevelop the Old Stanton building is a

23 worthwhile endeavor on behalf of our redevelopment

24 efforts and were anxious to do that

25 We have put together a Board that we believe

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1 has the fundraising capacity to be able to

2 generate enough private capital to get this kicked

3 off And the City of Jacksonville has an historic

4 loan fund that we have the ability to be able to

5 get some money from to finish the product And we

6 think its going to be a success

7 Downtown Jacksonville is going through its

8 own renaissance We have people moving downtown

9 and were bringing more retail downtown and our

10 Mayor is focused on rebuilding downtown So we

11 believe that we have an opportunity to be

12 successful

13 I chose to volunteer to be on Gregs Board

14 because I believe in him And we have been

15 working to get other prominent people in the

16 community on this Board so that we can make a

17 difference Thats what this is all about

18 As an economic development professional with

19 the City of Jacksonville for the last 30 years

20 Ive been involved in a lot of projects 156

21 projects since 2001 and weve generated private

22 capital investments of $14 million and weve

23 created 15000 jobs So the group that Im

24 working with we believe that this is achievable

25 But the first step is to get site control we

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1 have that Now the next step is we get the

2 charter then we have the ability to be able to

3 raise the funds you know to put this project

4 together Ill be happy to answer any questions

5 you may have

6 MS ALEXANDER Given that the school has

7 already opened and is successfully educating

8 students we believe that there wasnt good cause

9 in fact to deny the application and we will be

10 happy to answer any questions with respect to the

11 specific categories I just didnt want to go

12 through them twice given that its late in the

13 day So I just wanted to give you a background

14 thats where we are And we respectfully request

15 that you grant our appeal and thank you very

16 much

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

18 Representatives for the district

19 MR McDUFFIE Thank you members of the

20 Commission Again my name is Brian McDuffie

21 Im Executive Director for Policy and Compliance

22 with Duval County Public Schools

23 With me to my left is Ms Jackie Bowen

24 Executive Director for Academic Services

25 Ms Angela Heiney who is Coordinator of Financial

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1 Reporting We also have Karen Chastain who is

2 Chief Legal Officer for the district as well as

3 Shanita Roper and Anita Henry-Smith who are from

4 our charter schools office

5 The first thing that I want to touch upon is

6 the charter school climate in Duval County We

7 approved 13 out of 15 applications that went to

8 the Board during this last cycle We currently

9 have 21 charter schools operating in Duval County

10 And I think if every application or every

11 applicant that had good intentions had their

12 charter school approved there would be an

13 overwhelming number of charter schools It is not

14 necessarily about worthwhile intentions

15 And there has never been any question on our

16 part about the integrity of the people trying to

17 start this charter school none whatsoever They

18 appear to be good people with good intentions It

19 is not about that It is also not about

20 redeveloping downtown Jacksonville It is about

21 the children

22 And thats what we have been given the task

23 of doing as a sponsor to look and make sure that

24 when these applications come in that the children

25 are protected

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1 What Im going to do today is basically

2 provide the Commission with a slight overview with

3 respect to Issue 2 Ms Heiney will talk with

4 respect to Issue 3 And Ms Bowen will talk with

5 respect to Issue 1 just as an overview

6 So moving to Issue 2 governance the first

7 thing -- again keep within the time

8 constraints -- as a highlight the applicant is a

9 private school That in and on its face is a

10 reason for denial If you look at Florida

11 Statutes 100233(3)(b) a private school cannot be

12 a charter school

13 Moving on to management With respect to the

14 management section we were provided with

15 essentially a lot of vague information They

16 failed to give the management structure job

17 descriptions for teachers the administrative

18 positions They failed to give criteria as to how

19 they were going to select teachers And they also

20 failed to describe how they were going to monitor

21 teacher certification as well as how to fill

22 status

23 Based on these measures with respect to

24 Issue 2 under governance and management we feel

25 that the School Board had competent substantial

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1 evidence and good cause to deny the application

2 And next to speak will be Ms Jackie Bowen

3 MS BOWEN Good afternoon Im Jacqueline

4 Bowen the Academic Services Executive Director

5 I do appreciate the applicants passion for

6 students thats why Im here But I would also

7 like to reiterate as our counsel has said that I

8 am not a historical resident of Jacksonville And

9 as we review applications I have no knowledge of

10 many of the historical factors or the political

11 things that are behind it having only been in the

12 city for 12 years My goal and every analysis or

13 review of the complete instructional plan is that

14 it benefit children

15 So in reviewing the actual application there

16 were great deficiencies in the areas of the

17 guiding principles the targeted population was

18 very unclear the education program design the

19 curriculum plan the student performance

20 assessments evaluation the actual educational

21 supporting plan for the ESE population as well as

22 ELL students

23 So for example within this application

24 its supposed to provide any reader or reviewer a

25 very clear picture of what a student will need to

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1 do and what they will experience as they are

2 attending that institution meaning that I should

3 have an understanding of the applicant And the

4 applicant was real clear that he wanted to

5 provide the whole child and provide that

6 experience

7 But it didnt give me a clear understanding

8 or the reviewers upon my team about the

9 structure how the things that were identified

10 were truly going to support and guide teachers

11 decisions to make sure theyre meeting the

12 standards of the NGSS and the Common Core and

13 ultimately graduating

14 The application was indistinguishable between

15 the targeted population because at one point it

16 talked about at-risk students from a particular

17 5-mile geographic dynamics and then it said all

18 students no matter what according to the

19 standard of expectation

20 The applicant briefly described a pre-med

21 program a dual enrollment advanced placement

22 classes And the appeal reiterated the error by

23 describing instructional programs and learning

24 strategies but they failed to provide a clear

25 picture as to how you were going to take

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1 struggling students or any student to that

2 advanced and rigorous curriculum

3 And as we can say that the standard requires

4 the application to explain not only what the

5 school is going to teach but how they were going

6 to teach it I was continually searching which

7 Im not required to do throughout the entire

8 application to see how was this instruction going

9 to be -- what is that child going to experience on

10 a daily basis And it was very unclear

11 Statute 100233 also states that the charter

12 application must have a detailed curriculum plan

13 a curriculum plan not a curriculum resource a

14 plan for instruction that illustrates how those

15 students are going to be provided services to meet

16 those graduation requirements We are in the

17 business of graduating students

18 So the application also didnt provide a very

19 clear reading curriculum They referenced the

20 Just Read Florida Website which Im very happy

21 that they were there supporting but it is a

22 resource document it does not outline a

23 curriculum plan And unfortunately -- and Im

24 saying this in this building -- it really only

25 sports primary education When you get towards

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1 secondary the resources become very limited And

2 I know theyre working on that

3 So the statute requires that we deny the

4 application on the fact that the reading

5 curriculum plan was not sufficient at all

6 Another key issue that was concerning which

7 led to a good cause denial of the application was

8 that a risk of students not being prepared for the

9 FCAT Because they identified assessments which

10 Im very familiar with failed to have the

11 measuring tools that would guide teacher

12 instruction in being able to support deficiencies

13 or make accommodations or get those students ready

14 for that you know accelerated dual enrollment

15 advanced AP or pre-med curriculum

16 Im going to wrap it up because I know

17 everybody is ready to go When we talk about our

18 ELL students and we are doing a lot within our

19 districts to better support all students there

20 was really -- I struggled with finding out how the

21 students were going to enter our school And an

22 ELL student is just one designation because you

23 can have an ELL student that also has an ESE

24 designation and has some little deficiencies in

25 particular other areas

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1 There was no -- they failed to demonstrate

2 how they were going to make choices of selecting

3 the appropriate materials to meet the needs of all

4 students

5 To say we will select resources but there

6 was no clear indication of how those decisions

7 would be made The assessments didnt provide

8 that detailed information to guide that choice so

9 upon that there was no reason but to have a good

10 cause for denial

11 MS HEINEY Good afternoon My name is

12 Angela Heiney H-e-i-n-e-y and I reviewed the

13 business plan for the applicant As an overview

14 the entire business plan did not meet the standard

15 with the exception of the transportation which

16 only partially met the standard

17 There were quite a few reasons that we found

18 for this The biggest -- there were statutory

19 failures all over the place 100233(6)(a)5

20 states that there has to be an annual financial

21 plan based on projected revenues and expenditures

22 What we found is that the revenues and

23 expenditures provided were unsubstantiated

24 unsupported and there was missing money all over

25 the place For example on Page 107 the

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1 applicant states theyre going to take out

2 $500000 in loans to fund their startup however

3 if you look at their five-year business plan

4 there is no repayment for those loans And they

5 provided absolutely no correspondence from any

6 lending institution that says theyre willing to

7 give half a million dollars and not expect a penny

8 back for over five years In this current

9 economic climate that rarely if ever happens

10 Ive never seen it

11 The application and the denial or the

12 response to the denial that was filed -- the

13 notice of appeal -- there were several points that

14 were made in our denial however they never even

15 discussed those

16 For example the application specifically

17 states that they plan on contracting out HR and

18 accounting services however they dont know how

19 much it is so they didnt even include that in

20 their budget For some of our schools that is

21 thousands and thousands of dollars a year just

22 missing

23 Theres inconsistencies Mr Whitaker just

24 stated that the City of Jacksonville has not

25 promised the money However Page 104 states that

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1 they have a verbal commitment There is no

2 evidence of any commitment no letters from former

3 Mayor Delaney no letters from current Mayor

4 Browns office anybody even suggesting that they

5 know who this school is and that theyre willing

6 to support it

7 A second statutory failing occurs again in

8 (6)(a)5 where it states that the application must

9 have a description of controls that safeguard

10 financing

11 During the general help session the

12 applicants were told they must give detailed

13 procedures on certain areas Why Because these

14 are the areas that consistently have fraud

15 errors thefts mistakes We dont like to

16 believe that will happen at schools but frankly

17 bad things do happen

18 They were told you must have accounts

19 payables accounts receivables cash management

20 payroll those areas Why This is where weve

21 seen problems happen There was nothing There

22 was some general policy given on Pages 113 and 14

23 And they state on Page 113 there will be

24 implementation of many internal financial

25 controls however that is not a description of

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1 controls which is what is mandated by the

2 statute

3 Another failing occurs on Statute 21839

4 This statute mandates the use of an independent

5 certified public account for performing annual

6 financial reporting so the audited financial

7 statements which are required

8 In Attachment 7 it states that the same

9 person providing accounting services will also

10 perform the auditing services According to the

11 American Institute of CPAs this is actually a

12 violation of independence and an ethics violation

13 itself So anybody who is willing to do both is

14 not by statute an independent auditor And they

15 have stated in their application thats what

16 theyre going to do

17 When you see one statutory violation that is

18 certainly competent and substantial evidence for

19 denial When you see at least three just in one

20 section now were getting overwhelming grounds

21 for denial

22 But we also saw areas in the facilities where

23 they simply state that they will meet statute

24 Saying youre going to meet statute is not the

25 same as explaining what youre going to do

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1 Theyre stating in their financials that theyre

2 going to have $3 million worth of renovations

3 What on earth are you going to do for $3 million

4 Mr Whitaker stated that the building is just

5 a shell However the application states that it

6 is currently being in use by a daycare for the

7 Urban League So whats going on Theres no

8 consistency between whats being said whats

9 being done in the application

10 In that stance we do not make assumptions

11 We must go with what is written So any verbal

12 statements we cant justify that because all we

13 can hold the applicant to is what has been written

14 in that document

15 We have a problem with food service They

16 state that theyre not going to use NSLP and

17 theyre going to contract a vendor which is

18 perfectly acceptable except their target

19 population is going to be children that are at

20 risk Specifically this is a very high population

21 of children who will qualify for free and reduced

22 lunch What about the kids that cant pay for

23 their food what are they going to do all day in

24 class We cant starve children thats wrong

25 Theres no money in the budget for -shy

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

2 MS HEINEY Im sorry

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

4 MS HEINEY Theres no money in the budget

5 for food so theres no money theres no plan

6 And this is an area that has direct effect on

7 health and well-being of the children

8 The action plan that they gave is completely

9 unrealistic and does not meet up against their

10 academic standards For example they state that

11 theyre going to use Achieve 3000 Achieve 3000

12 is a difficult product to use It does require

13 training

14 And the startup budget and the statement of

15 cash flow is there is no money whatsoever for

16 teacher training So are these teachers supposed

17 to walk in on their first day knowing how to use

18 it The action plan says theres going to be

19 training but theres no money for it so how are

20 you going do it As I said theres quite a bit

21 of reasons And if you have any questions we

22 would be more than happy to respond

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay This takes us to

24 Issue 1 whether the applicant failed to comply

25 with the educational plan regarding guiding

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1 principles target population educational program

2 design curriculum plan student performance

3 assessment and evaluation exceptional students

4 and English language learners

5 So the school if you want to have a couple

6 of minutes to speak directly to the educational

7 plan and then well give the district the same

8 amount of time

9 MS ALEXANDER Sure With respect to the

10 mission statement we believe that the denial was

11 not supported by competent substantial evidence in

12 any way For example the School Board alleges

13 that we didnt provide an adequate mission

14 statement or describe how the school utilizes

15 guiding principles

16 As you can kind of get the sense from hearing

17 Dr Myers hes got a pretty sophisticated sense

18 of mission And with respect to the mission

19 statement the application specifically says on

20 Page 4 The mission statement of the charter high

21 school is to provide an exemplary personalized

22 learning program in a supportive resource rich

23 contemporary learning environment Stephen Biko

24 Charter High School is dedicated to excellence and

25 committed to nurturing passionate lifelong

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1 learners

2 It also says that The school will meet the

3 high standards of student achievement by

4 supporting positive academic outcomes for students

5 by addressing the academic social economical -shy

6 Im sorry -- emotional and behavioral needs of

7 enrolled students And it says that High

8 standards will be evident which will offer parents

9 and guardians of students currently attending the

10 elementary and charter schools of Duval County the

11 flexibility to choose the school

12 So our view is that if you actually look at

13 the application there is a specific mission its

14 very clear and in fact weve met the standard

15 Just as an aside there was a reference to a

16 private school cant be a charter school

17 Dr Myers started the private school on donations

18 alone in the interim because he wanted to try to

19 start offering education to the average students

20 as quickly as possible He consulted with the DOE

21 and was told that in fact he could open up the

22 school and that if the charter is granted he

23 could transition from the private school into the

24 charter model so there isnt any prohibition

25 against how hes doing it

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1 But our view is if you look at the

2 application there is a clear mission its

3 outlined there and it did meet the standard So

4 thank you

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

6 District

7 DR MYERS Can I

8 CHAIRMAN CHU You have about 30 seconds

9 DR MYERS Thank you I contacted the

10 Department of Education and they expressed to me

11 that I have to close the school and once I close

12 the school every child has to apply So that was

13 done prior to opening up the private school

14 As they stated theres nowhere in that

15 application where it states (inaudible) So all

16 of these things are preposterous in what theyre

17 saying and its just things that theyre trying

18 to elaborate to make the application look bad

19 As I expressed to you Board members this

20 application was approved similar last year It

21 was the exact application So everything that

22 shes coming up with and all three of them does

23 not make sense it does not It does not weigh

24 this application God knows it does not And

25 they cannot give you sufficient reasons why

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1 Thats why they come in with all of these

2 fictitious false allegations against this

3 application Thats all theyre doing They

4 approved this application last year they did

5 And thats all Im asking for

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right District

7 MR McDUFFIE Just briefly and I will turn

8 the mic over to Ms Bowen

9 This is the second time youve heard that

10 there was a mirror application from last year I

11 would like to ask the Commission to go to Page 39

12 of the application There is a specific provision

13 in the application which says if the school

14 intends to replicate an existing school design

15 you are supposed to notify the district under E

16 and F in that section

17 In their application that section is blank

18 okay So they are replicating an existing school

19 design they did not notify us of that in the

20 application

21 And secondly that also takes away the

22 innovative factor of the school If theyre

23 replicating an existing school what is innovative

24 about their charter school

25 Just briefly again with respect to that

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1 private school the application is in the name of

2 Stephen Biko Private Charter School so it is a

3 private school that is making the application

4 MS BOWEN I would just like to add that if

5 there was an application that was approved last

6 year within the past five years we would be glad

7 to go back and look if theres a name thats

8 submitted for us to do reference But when we

9 looked through all of our prior applications we

10 could find no areas where there was similar an

11 exact model of an approved application that had

12 already been approved by the district

13 But to respond to point one as far as the

14 guiding principle section the mission statement

15 was general it was vague and it did not describe

16 meaningful or measurable priority It

17 inefficiently defines the values of the school and

18 was inconsistent with the appellants subsequent

19 educational program plan The question of the

20 guidance embedded within question one clearly says

21 that it should explain what the school intends to

22 do for whom and to what degree And I failed to

23 be able to fully answer all of those questions by

24 reading the statement

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Were going to have a QampA

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1 session so what were going to do now is let me

2 ask the Commission members do you have any

3 questions

4 MS BRUBAKER I would like to hear how

5 you -shy

6 DR MYERS Me

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes Dr Myers How you plan

8 on taking those low performing students to be able

9 to do dual enrollment or AP classes

10 DR MYERS Well first of all as those

11 students arrive in the school various testing

12 will be done on those students TABE testing also

13 WRAT4 testing and various things We would look

14 at the matrix of where the kid came from

15 We have a child now that came to us Georgia

16 from one of the schools in Georgia where he was

17 functioning at a lower level The WRAT4 which is

18 designed to motivate the child and test the child

19 TABE test then we get a matrix from that and we

20 set a curriculum for -- excuse me -- we set the

21 curriculum for the child give the child

22 appropriate courses that the child has already

23 taken or retake again

24 So we move the child in small groups which

25 would be one-on-one learning or it could be group

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1 learning activities The chairs in the classroom

2 are set up and a table where one to one and one to

3 one where the child can model the other child and

4 move forward

5 The APEX curriculum which is used in Duval

6 County Public Schools they just finished using

7 the APEX curriculum in one of their failing

8 schools which moved -- increased the grade two

9 grades -- I think one or two grades at Andrew

10 Jackson High School They have the APEX They

11 have several schools in Duval County thats using

12 the APEX curriculum So its a Florida curriculum

13 that is being used

14 As they expressed the application -- when I

15 looked at the application since I was using the

16 APEX curriculum I said okay why not modify this

17 and put it back into context where its being

18 used So what were doing is we just wrote the

19 application in regards to what they wanted They

20 wanted APEX We put the APEX in there Its a

21 proven fact that its successful in their public

22 schools

23 MS ALEXANDER Can you answer her questions

24 I think which is how you are going to move the low

25 learners up to eventually taking the AP test

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1 DR MYERS Right Im sorry I know I only

2 have a few more minutes or a few seconds But

3 eventually as they progress in each area in math

4 science social studies then we test again So

5 we test at the beginning test at the end

6 And as they -- at the midterm level it tells

7 us whether or not theyre going to be remediated

8 in the course or move forward As they move

9 forward we get the curriculum more rigorous again

10 for them and the next course which is in line so

11 basically one on one and group learning is

12 efficient for them Theyre going to have to take

13 the same courses but if theyre testing at lower

14 levels thats where the individualized

15 instruction will help them

16 Did I answer it

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

18 respond to that

19 MR McDUFFIE Ms Bowen would like to

20 respond But I just want to make it also clear

21 that that -- what was just explained verbally is

22 not in the application

23 MS BOWEN The APEX curriculum is about a

24 curriculum for a set population of students as

25 well as the TABE Assessment they test and measure

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1 students basic skills The expectation under the

2 Common Core the FCAT 20 far exceeds that

3 curriculum And yes we have used it with some

4 of our most lowest performing students and Andrew

5 Jackson did make some gains but they still have

6 19 percent of their students are reading

7 proficiently

8 So my concern is with that curriculum I know

9 that there is something that you needed to have a

10 better indication that was going to provide the

11 teacher with a clear pathway of how to meet those

12 gaps By giving me an assessment thats only

13 measuring my minimum skills it does not

14 demonstrate the expectation of the Lexile level

15 thats required for a college entrance And on

16 Page 39 of his application it clearly states for

17 students who are interested in pre-med coursework

18 The expectation for reading cannot be

19 provided with the diagnosis information that you

20 get with a TABE Assessment or an APEX curriculum

21 Page 10 -- Im sorry I said Page 39 its stuck

22 in my head for some reason -- but on Page 10 it

23 talks about pre-med students and the other

24 innovative -- because thats what hes saying

25 its one of the innovative factors of this

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1 program

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you Are there other

3 questions from the Commission members

4 MS BRADLEY I have a question

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Verdya

6 MS BRADLEY My question is for the school

7 the applicant Is this a solely online program

8 DR MYERS No maam Its basically online

9 and direct instruction

10 MS BRADLEY Do you discuss direct

11 instruction in here

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY The reason that I ask that

14 question is the questions in the application asks

15 specifically for a description of the curriculum

16 a description of the reading program And in your

17 responses your responses pretty much tie back to

18 the APEX curriculum so it appears that it is

19 solely reliant on And then all of the

20 documentation that you gave was from the APEX

21 program So I was just wondering is it just

22 solely online

23 DR MYERS The majority of it but theres a

24 piece where the direct instruction is in place

25 with the child because the children are culled

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1 out for the particular course learning for the

2 subject area that theyre doing The regular

3 curriculum comes in -- the APEX Lexile learning

4 comes in Everything is designed where its

5 implemented on the laptop for the child If the

6 child needs direct instruction the child is

7 culled out into an environment where he or she

8 receives the one-on-one instruction

9 MS BRADLEY Did you discuss that in here

10 DR MYERS Im pretty sure I did

11 MS ALEXANDER What page are you looking at

12 for these

13 MS BRADLEY Well it kind of goes back and

14 forth It starts on Page 16 where it starts

15 talking about the educational program and then it

16 gives me probably about 20 30 pages on APEX and

17 then it goes into the reading curriculum But Im

18 not seeing anywhere where theres any supplement

19 to that

20 Because even the question on Page 16 was

21 Describe the proposed reading or educational

22 program it sort of goes through elements of the

23 APEX program Then on Page 68 it says Describe

24 the reading curriculum

25 DR MYERS Yes maam If you look at

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1 the -shy

2 MS HITCHCOCK Stand up please

3 DR MYERS Im sorry

4 CHAIRMAN CHU If you could come to the mic

5 that would be very helpful because our court

6 reporter is trying to get it all down

7 DR MYERS Im sorry The bullet there

8 says Direct instruction individual and small

9 group instruction led by highly-qualified

10 teachers

11 MS ESPOSITO Say the page

12 MS BRADLEY Thats on Page 16 But its

13 just part of the -- its sort of an isolated

14 bullet but it doesnt explain it any further than

15 that You know it doesnt tell me that there is

16 going to be a pull-out portion

17 DR MYERS Right But as I stated I just

18 put a little piece in there because thats just a

19 little piece of the curriculum and thats why I

20 just mentioned a little piece of it there The

21 majority of it is an online based curriculum

22 MS HODGENS I have a question for the

23 school

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

25 MS HODGENS I am confused on the targeted

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1 population Im trying to get it on the motion

2 sheet so Im going to go to targeted population

3 first And I am a little confused on it because I

4 can read what you say on Page 12 And on Page 12

5 you talk about being open to all students and

6 then you talk about low-performing students and

7 then you go back to all students

8 And then when I go to Page 41 the curriculum

9 design you talk about students needing credit

10 recovery And then I continue on and I see AP

11 courses honor courses And again I dont want

12 to allude that I dont believe that kids can do

13 those courses but I want to understand what

14 population youre really looking at

15 DR MYERS Were looking at all students

16 within that demographic And within the

17 demographics it is a lower level You have lower

18 level one level two basically they are coming

19 from the downtown sector area within that 5-mile

20 radius area of the downtown

21 So when I say all students because a

22 charter school cannot deny a student from applying

23 or coming in all students are accepted if they

24 can meet transportation needs to come to school

25 So as I expressed to you thats what

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1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

Page 3: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

3

1 P R O C E E D I N G S

2 CHAIRMAN CHU My understanding is that there

3 is a motion from the School District so if I

4 could get the district to present their motion

5 and give the school an opportunity to respond

6 MR McDUFFIE Thank you Good afternoon

7 Chairman Chu Brian McDuffie on behalf of the

8 School Board of Duval County

9 We have filed a motion to amend the motion

10 sheet and essentially the basis of the motion is

11 the current structure of the motion sheet

12 essentially if we look at Issue 1 it sets forth

13 identify seven sections on Issue 1 and it does not

14 create a mechanism for the Commission to vote on

15 each individual section of that issue

16 Consequently once the Commission does the vote

17 particularly on Issue 1 neither party will know

18 exactly what issues or which sections under

19 Issue 1 you would make a determination as to

20 whether is competent substantial evidence to

21 support the denial of the application

22 So what were asking for is that -- were not

23 asking to expand any issues or add any additional

24 issues to the motion sheet Were simply asking

25 that the Commission make a specific ruling on each

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1 of the sections under each of the issues so the

2 parties know exactly what their rulings are with

3 respect to those particular sections And thats

4 really about it

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

6 Would the school like to present your

7 thoughts on this particular motion

8 MS ALEXANDER Sure Well we obviously

9 oppose the motion If you look at the case that

10 you just handled it was grouped and there was a

11 general vote Our view is that if you look at the

12 denial letter in this case there werent actually

13 any reasons listed by the School Board It

14 actually just refers to the evaluation instrument

15 And the only in fact area that we are

16 alleged to have been failing in was the curriculum

17 plan which we dispute and we can prove otherwise

18 But we argue thats really the only even area that

19 we should have to address considering there was

20 absolutely no reasons listed in the denial letter

21 And we dont think that theres any reason

22 under the law to go point by point by point by

23 point Its going to be obvious from the votes of

24 the Commission what their views were on a

25 particular area And the evaluation instrument is

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1 grouped in those fashions just for that very

2 reason because they fall under a particular

3 heading And given the fact that you just did it

4 earlier I dont see any reason to change And I

5 do think we would be prejudiced otherwise Thats

6 our opinion Thank you

7 CHAIRMAN CHU District do you want to

8 respond

9 MR McDUFFIE Sure With respect to the

10 denial letter the statute simply calls for the

11 district to articulate its reasons for denial

12 including the letter and supporting documentation

13 The district when it sent the letter of denial

14 also attached the evaluation instrument which

15 detailed all the reasons for the denial of the

16 applications

17 In addition theres been no prejudice the

18 appellate has responded to each and every one of

19 the denials -- each and every one of the sections

20 in their appeal brief so the appellant knows very

21 well what the issues are before it And again

22 were not extending the issues were simply

23 asking that the issues on the motion sheet be

24 voted on by the Board -- by the Commission Thank

25 you

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the school like to add

2 anything on that Ill give you two

3 opportunities

4 MS ALEXANDER No I appreciate that but

5 no thank you

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Counsel

7 MR SHINE I would just add Chair that

8 youve seen today and youve seen previously that

9 the Appeal Commission is certainly capable of

10 identifying the issues in bullet form under the

11 larger titles of educational plan the

12 organizational plan and then the third being the

13 budgetary issues under the business plan

14 Now theres nothing in the statute that

15 specifically requires that we do 14 issues

16 Theres 14 issues in this case Theres seven in

17 the first I believe three in the second and five

18 in the last

19 We had a one-page denial letter which I

20 respectfully disagree with the School Districts

21 attorney that this meets the letter and intent of

22 the statute The statutes references a denial

23 letter that specifically articulates in writing

24 the specific reasons

25 Well it incorporates by reference the

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1 specific reasons and then you must go back into

2 other documents to find the specific reasons And

3 their evaluation document and their document that

4 they prepared as a summary for the Board in

5 certain cases is contradictory So its a

6 difficult challenge for us to number one put

7 together the issue sheet but number two I think

8 youve seen already your initial instructions were

9 denial of any one of these reasons within any of

10 these bullets under the educational plan

11 constitutes good cause Then one of the members

12 in the last vote further clarified that issue

13 Im certain that the members of the Commission

14 understand that

15 Im certainly not seeing any prejudice to

16 either of the parties in the format that its

17 currently in And I think there is -- and most

18 importantly as youve seen in the prior cases

19 many of these issues are interrelated and the

20 explanation and the proof of whether or not they

21 met any one of the seven standards for the

22 educational plan its in the same area of the

23 application There is crossover between some of

24 the information that prove or disproves whether or

25 not theyve met that standard

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1 So I believe the way we have proposed it I

2 think is certainly consistent with the statutory

3 construct and theres no rule or statute that

4 would require us to do anything different

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counsel

6 I would agree with that I think the way

7 this Commission has historically operated -- I

8 mean we are certainly going to look at all of the

9 issues that currently -shy

10 MS HITCHCOCK Can you speak up

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes Jackie

12 Thank you very much counsel Given the way

13 that this Commission operates I dont see an

14 issue with continuing to operate the way we

15 usually do so your motion is denied So we will

16 continue with the way that we usually operate and

17 go through the various issues

18 Jackie if you would pass out the motion

19 sheets and then we can get started

20 All right We are going to get started So

21 again well give the school 15 minutes to present

22 your case and then well give the district the

23 same amount of time Again certainly being

24 succinct is appreciated

25 So with that proceed

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1 MS ALEXANDER I appreciate it Thank you

2 My name is Stephanie Alexander Im from the law

3 firm of Tripp Scott Im here today to represent

4 Stephen Biko Charter School

5 And with me to my right is Dr Greg Myers

6 Hes the principal and founder of the school and

7 also Joe Whitaker who is on the Board and he is

8 with the Jacksonville Economic Development

9 Council And if I could remember his long title

10 I would tell you what it is but Im sure that he

11 can do that

12 We all know what the law is in terms of the

13 standards so Im going to not really get into that

14 now And we also -- this isnt our first rodeo

15 Its getting late in the afternoon so Im not

16 going to go over it issue by issue in my opening

17 statement here Were going to do that as the

18 issues come up

19 But I wanted you all to understand the nature

20 of this charter school how it came about what

21 the status is of it today because I think thats

22 really important From our perspective the

23 overarching point is we think that -- and we think

24 that we will prove that the application should

25 have been granted And in fact it mirrors an

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1 application that Jacksonville -- Im sorry -- the

2 Duval County School Board actually approved the

3 year before So our opinion is that it should

4 have been sufficient it was sufficient the year

5 before and there really arent differences that

6 would account for the differences in treatment

7 But the more important point and which is

8 why I want you to understand how the charter

9 school got started where it is now and the

10 genesis of it is because I think that youll be

11 as impressed as I was to learn about the history

12 and what is going on now

13 And with that I would like to ask Dr Myers

14 to get up and give you a little five minutes about

15 where things are Thank you

16 DR MYERS Good afternoon everyone

17 Chairperson Board members Excuse me Im a

18 little tall

19 MS HITCHCOCK I think that we can probably

20 hear you Dr Myers you dont have to bend down

21 DR MYERS My name is Dr Myers Gregory

22 Myers educated at Duval County one of their

23 products with the school reared in Duval County

24 from elementary Originally from South America

25 came to the United States in 1968 immigrant

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1 parents West Indian mom Portuguese dad And it

2 was instilled to be the best in this world

3 I was a defiant kid had to be removed from

4 Duval County Public School System But it took a

5 principal that grabbed me and said that you are

6 the best and I believe in you And I went on and

7 graduated from high school received a football

8 scholarship went on to college graduated played

9 some professional football and returned back to

10 receive my masters degree my PhD in health

11 care administration

12 And I wanted to give something back to this

13 county that I represented and I saw a school that

14 was so vibrant and God touched me to say that

15 thats what I want you to do This is all about

16 this building Thats what this whole issue is

17 about Its about this great building the

18 oldest historical African-American high school in

19 the United States

20 They feel as though that Im going to take

21 their kids but this school is about every child

22 in Duval County Ive been granted the

23 opportunity by all the former mayors and the mayor

24 of Jacksonville to succeed in this because they

25 believe in me as an individual as an

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1 African-American to the community and one that

2 can put this together I would be blessed to have

3 a great partner of Joe Whitaker who has worked

4 with me diligently on this

5 The school is open now Weve opened as a

6 private school We had our first graduate this

7 December that went through all of the standards of

8 Duval County She came to us from a failing

9 school a failing school that was not progressing

10 But now she went from scoring a 14 on the ACT to a

11 19 That says that were doing something

12 We have up to 35 kids that are accelerating

13 using a curriculum called APEX curriculum which

14 is in their county They fostered the curriculum

15 Whats wrong with it Nothing

16 I know Im speaking but Im speaking from my

17 heart because this touches me Im one of theirs

18 educator and I have to be treated like this It

19 is wrong and thats how I feel because Im only

20 speaking from my heart And it hurts me today it

21 all hurts me All of this is for -- because this

22 is mirrored off an application that they approved

23 last year last year they approved this

24 application

25 So why should I have to be subject to what

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1 Im going through And it is wrong And Im only

2 speaking from my heart You cant throw me in the

3 garbage can speaking from my heart thats what

4 Im doing today

5 And Im just asking you to give me the

6 opportunity to show these individuals from my

7 county that I can be successful I am being

8 successful with these kids Im doing a great

9 job And former Mayor Delaney he inspired me to

10 do this because he said Greg you are passionate

11 Most individuals that open up charter schools open

12 them up for the wrong reasons they open them up

13 for funds I opening up because I love kids and I

14 want to change lives because Im tired of seeing

15 children go into the prison system and Im tired

16 of seeing children going wayward

17 The young lady that finished our school

18 shes now attending Virginia College received a

19 full scholarship Thats what this is all about

20 And if it could change my life imagine how it

21 could change other lives

22 So thats why it makes me upset it makes me

23 angry because Ive been going through this and

24 its all about this beautiful building Old

25 Stanton High School located right behind the new

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1 courthouse Thats what its all about All this

2 is is just a dog and pony show this is what its

3 about because they feel as though Im going to

4 take the kids from (inaudible) and Andrew Jackson

5 Thank you so much for listening to me and

6 Ill be responding to your questions

7 MS ALEXANDER As you can tell hes very

8 passionate about his school And he was in fact

9 urged by former Mayor Delaney to start the charter

10 school

11 And the building that hes showing and

12 referring to is actually right behind -- as he

13 said its right behind the brand new courthouse

14 And in fact the development authority which Joe

15 Whitaker will speak to has actually pledged funds

16 to refurbish the building And thats where the

17 charter school will be housed

18 And all of those plans are in place but in

19 fact because we dont have charter school

20 approval we cant go forward and get the funds to

21 rehab the school thats right behind the

22 courthouse in downtown Its part of the

23 revitalization district of downtown Jacksonville

24 What he forgot to stay was not only was he a

25 product of the education system in Jacksonville

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1 but he taught in the Duval County Schools for

2 many many years He was a football coach he was

3 a teacher he was an assistant principle he was a

4 principal in fact he ran three Drop In Academy

5 Schools in Duval before in fact deciding to open

6 up the new charter school at the urgence of former

7 Mayor John Delaney who is in fact on his Board

8 and as you all know is now the current President

9 of the University of North Florida So thats

10 really the backdrop of this

11 And Im going to turn it over to Joe

12 Whitaker who is on the Board and will give you a

13 little sense of whats going on with the building

14 so you get a sense of the whole background here

15 Thanks

16 MR WHITAKER Good afternoon My name is

17 Joe Whitaker and Im with the Mayors Office of

18 Economic Development for the City of Jacksonville

19 And I got intrigued by Mr Myers desire to open

20 up a charter school because I ran a loan program

21 for the City and I assisted him in another project

22 that he did to put something back into his

23 neighborhood So Ive watched him and Ive seen

24 his passion and his energy for getting things

25 done

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1 And one of the things that I admire about

2 Dr Myers is that he does what he says hes going

3 to do when he says hes going to do it And

4 thats fairly rare in my opinion

5 I would like to just clear up any other

6 misunderstandings The City of Jacksonville has

7 yet not pledged funds for his project until we

8 have a charter school designation so that we dont

9 waste a lot of time trying to raise money But

10 essentially the Old Stanton High School was built

11 in 1901 and it is now just a shell and it is

12 governed by a not-for-profit Board And we have

13 achieved the first step of the goal and that is

14 they have given us site control

15 So we do have the ability if were granted a

16 charter to be able to go out then and raise the

17 funds to be able to rehabilitate this building and

18 actually put upwards of 400 young students in

19 there in high school

20 And we dont have a high school in downtown

21 Jacksonville and we believe that this opportunity

22 to redevelop the Old Stanton building is a

23 worthwhile endeavor on behalf of our redevelopment

24 efforts and were anxious to do that

25 We have put together a Board that we believe

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1 has the fundraising capacity to be able to

2 generate enough private capital to get this kicked

3 off And the City of Jacksonville has an historic

4 loan fund that we have the ability to be able to

5 get some money from to finish the product And we

6 think its going to be a success

7 Downtown Jacksonville is going through its

8 own renaissance We have people moving downtown

9 and were bringing more retail downtown and our

10 Mayor is focused on rebuilding downtown So we

11 believe that we have an opportunity to be

12 successful

13 I chose to volunteer to be on Gregs Board

14 because I believe in him And we have been

15 working to get other prominent people in the

16 community on this Board so that we can make a

17 difference Thats what this is all about

18 As an economic development professional with

19 the City of Jacksonville for the last 30 years

20 Ive been involved in a lot of projects 156

21 projects since 2001 and weve generated private

22 capital investments of $14 million and weve

23 created 15000 jobs So the group that Im

24 working with we believe that this is achievable

25 But the first step is to get site control we

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1 have that Now the next step is we get the

2 charter then we have the ability to be able to

3 raise the funds you know to put this project

4 together Ill be happy to answer any questions

5 you may have

6 MS ALEXANDER Given that the school has

7 already opened and is successfully educating

8 students we believe that there wasnt good cause

9 in fact to deny the application and we will be

10 happy to answer any questions with respect to the

11 specific categories I just didnt want to go

12 through them twice given that its late in the

13 day So I just wanted to give you a background

14 thats where we are And we respectfully request

15 that you grant our appeal and thank you very

16 much

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

18 Representatives for the district

19 MR McDUFFIE Thank you members of the

20 Commission Again my name is Brian McDuffie

21 Im Executive Director for Policy and Compliance

22 with Duval County Public Schools

23 With me to my left is Ms Jackie Bowen

24 Executive Director for Academic Services

25 Ms Angela Heiney who is Coordinator of Financial

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1 Reporting We also have Karen Chastain who is

2 Chief Legal Officer for the district as well as

3 Shanita Roper and Anita Henry-Smith who are from

4 our charter schools office

5 The first thing that I want to touch upon is

6 the charter school climate in Duval County We

7 approved 13 out of 15 applications that went to

8 the Board during this last cycle We currently

9 have 21 charter schools operating in Duval County

10 And I think if every application or every

11 applicant that had good intentions had their

12 charter school approved there would be an

13 overwhelming number of charter schools It is not

14 necessarily about worthwhile intentions

15 And there has never been any question on our

16 part about the integrity of the people trying to

17 start this charter school none whatsoever They

18 appear to be good people with good intentions It

19 is not about that It is also not about

20 redeveloping downtown Jacksonville It is about

21 the children

22 And thats what we have been given the task

23 of doing as a sponsor to look and make sure that

24 when these applications come in that the children

25 are protected

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1 What Im going to do today is basically

2 provide the Commission with a slight overview with

3 respect to Issue 2 Ms Heiney will talk with

4 respect to Issue 3 And Ms Bowen will talk with

5 respect to Issue 1 just as an overview

6 So moving to Issue 2 governance the first

7 thing -- again keep within the time

8 constraints -- as a highlight the applicant is a

9 private school That in and on its face is a

10 reason for denial If you look at Florida

11 Statutes 100233(3)(b) a private school cannot be

12 a charter school

13 Moving on to management With respect to the

14 management section we were provided with

15 essentially a lot of vague information They

16 failed to give the management structure job

17 descriptions for teachers the administrative

18 positions They failed to give criteria as to how

19 they were going to select teachers And they also

20 failed to describe how they were going to monitor

21 teacher certification as well as how to fill

22 status

23 Based on these measures with respect to

24 Issue 2 under governance and management we feel

25 that the School Board had competent substantial

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1 evidence and good cause to deny the application

2 And next to speak will be Ms Jackie Bowen

3 MS BOWEN Good afternoon Im Jacqueline

4 Bowen the Academic Services Executive Director

5 I do appreciate the applicants passion for

6 students thats why Im here But I would also

7 like to reiterate as our counsel has said that I

8 am not a historical resident of Jacksonville And

9 as we review applications I have no knowledge of

10 many of the historical factors or the political

11 things that are behind it having only been in the

12 city for 12 years My goal and every analysis or

13 review of the complete instructional plan is that

14 it benefit children

15 So in reviewing the actual application there

16 were great deficiencies in the areas of the

17 guiding principles the targeted population was

18 very unclear the education program design the

19 curriculum plan the student performance

20 assessments evaluation the actual educational

21 supporting plan for the ESE population as well as

22 ELL students

23 So for example within this application

24 its supposed to provide any reader or reviewer a

25 very clear picture of what a student will need to

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1 do and what they will experience as they are

2 attending that institution meaning that I should

3 have an understanding of the applicant And the

4 applicant was real clear that he wanted to

5 provide the whole child and provide that

6 experience

7 But it didnt give me a clear understanding

8 or the reviewers upon my team about the

9 structure how the things that were identified

10 were truly going to support and guide teachers

11 decisions to make sure theyre meeting the

12 standards of the NGSS and the Common Core and

13 ultimately graduating

14 The application was indistinguishable between

15 the targeted population because at one point it

16 talked about at-risk students from a particular

17 5-mile geographic dynamics and then it said all

18 students no matter what according to the

19 standard of expectation

20 The applicant briefly described a pre-med

21 program a dual enrollment advanced placement

22 classes And the appeal reiterated the error by

23 describing instructional programs and learning

24 strategies but they failed to provide a clear

25 picture as to how you were going to take

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1 struggling students or any student to that

2 advanced and rigorous curriculum

3 And as we can say that the standard requires

4 the application to explain not only what the

5 school is going to teach but how they were going

6 to teach it I was continually searching which

7 Im not required to do throughout the entire

8 application to see how was this instruction going

9 to be -- what is that child going to experience on

10 a daily basis And it was very unclear

11 Statute 100233 also states that the charter

12 application must have a detailed curriculum plan

13 a curriculum plan not a curriculum resource a

14 plan for instruction that illustrates how those

15 students are going to be provided services to meet

16 those graduation requirements We are in the

17 business of graduating students

18 So the application also didnt provide a very

19 clear reading curriculum They referenced the

20 Just Read Florida Website which Im very happy

21 that they were there supporting but it is a

22 resource document it does not outline a

23 curriculum plan And unfortunately -- and Im

24 saying this in this building -- it really only

25 sports primary education When you get towards

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1 secondary the resources become very limited And

2 I know theyre working on that

3 So the statute requires that we deny the

4 application on the fact that the reading

5 curriculum plan was not sufficient at all

6 Another key issue that was concerning which

7 led to a good cause denial of the application was

8 that a risk of students not being prepared for the

9 FCAT Because they identified assessments which

10 Im very familiar with failed to have the

11 measuring tools that would guide teacher

12 instruction in being able to support deficiencies

13 or make accommodations or get those students ready

14 for that you know accelerated dual enrollment

15 advanced AP or pre-med curriculum

16 Im going to wrap it up because I know

17 everybody is ready to go When we talk about our

18 ELL students and we are doing a lot within our

19 districts to better support all students there

20 was really -- I struggled with finding out how the

21 students were going to enter our school And an

22 ELL student is just one designation because you

23 can have an ELL student that also has an ESE

24 designation and has some little deficiencies in

25 particular other areas

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1 There was no -- they failed to demonstrate

2 how they were going to make choices of selecting

3 the appropriate materials to meet the needs of all

4 students

5 To say we will select resources but there

6 was no clear indication of how those decisions

7 would be made The assessments didnt provide

8 that detailed information to guide that choice so

9 upon that there was no reason but to have a good

10 cause for denial

11 MS HEINEY Good afternoon My name is

12 Angela Heiney H-e-i-n-e-y and I reviewed the

13 business plan for the applicant As an overview

14 the entire business plan did not meet the standard

15 with the exception of the transportation which

16 only partially met the standard

17 There were quite a few reasons that we found

18 for this The biggest -- there were statutory

19 failures all over the place 100233(6)(a)5

20 states that there has to be an annual financial

21 plan based on projected revenues and expenditures

22 What we found is that the revenues and

23 expenditures provided were unsubstantiated

24 unsupported and there was missing money all over

25 the place For example on Page 107 the

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1 applicant states theyre going to take out

2 $500000 in loans to fund their startup however

3 if you look at their five-year business plan

4 there is no repayment for those loans And they

5 provided absolutely no correspondence from any

6 lending institution that says theyre willing to

7 give half a million dollars and not expect a penny

8 back for over five years In this current

9 economic climate that rarely if ever happens

10 Ive never seen it

11 The application and the denial or the

12 response to the denial that was filed -- the

13 notice of appeal -- there were several points that

14 were made in our denial however they never even

15 discussed those

16 For example the application specifically

17 states that they plan on contracting out HR and

18 accounting services however they dont know how

19 much it is so they didnt even include that in

20 their budget For some of our schools that is

21 thousands and thousands of dollars a year just

22 missing

23 Theres inconsistencies Mr Whitaker just

24 stated that the City of Jacksonville has not

25 promised the money However Page 104 states that

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1 they have a verbal commitment There is no

2 evidence of any commitment no letters from former

3 Mayor Delaney no letters from current Mayor

4 Browns office anybody even suggesting that they

5 know who this school is and that theyre willing

6 to support it

7 A second statutory failing occurs again in

8 (6)(a)5 where it states that the application must

9 have a description of controls that safeguard

10 financing

11 During the general help session the

12 applicants were told they must give detailed

13 procedures on certain areas Why Because these

14 are the areas that consistently have fraud

15 errors thefts mistakes We dont like to

16 believe that will happen at schools but frankly

17 bad things do happen

18 They were told you must have accounts

19 payables accounts receivables cash management

20 payroll those areas Why This is where weve

21 seen problems happen There was nothing There

22 was some general policy given on Pages 113 and 14

23 And they state on Page 113 there will be

24 implementation of many internal financial

25 controls however that is not a description of

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1 controls which is what is mandated by the

2 statute

3 Another failing occurs on Statute 21839

4 This statute mandates the use of an independent

5 certified public account for performing annual

6 financial reporting so the audited financial

7 statements which are required

8 In Attachment 7 it states that the same

9 person providing accounting services will also

10 perform the auditing services According to the

11 American Institute of CPAs this is actually a

12 violation of independence and an ethics violation

13 itself So anybody who is willing to do both is

14 not by statute an independent auditor And they

15 have stated in their application thats what

16 theyre going to do

17 When you see one statutory violation that is

18 certainly competent and substantial evidence for

19 denial When you see at least three just in one

20 section now were getting overwhelming grounds

21 for denial

22 But we also saw areas in the facilities where

23 they simply state that they will meet statute

24 Saying youre going to meet statute is not the

25 same as explaining what youre going to do

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1 Theyre stating in their financials that theyre

2 going to have $3 million worth of renovations

3 What on earth are you going to do for $3 million

4 Mr Whitaker stated that the building is just

5 a shell However the application states that it

6 is currently being in use by a daycare for the

7 Urban League So whats going on Theres no

8 consistency between whats being said whats

9 being done in the application

10 In that stance we do not make assumptions

11 We must go with what is written So any verbal

12 statements we cant justify that because all we

13 can hold the applicant to is what has been written

14 in that document

15 We have a problem with food service They

16 state that theyre not going to use NSLP and

17 theyre going to contract a vendor which is

18 perfectly acceptable except their target

19 population is going to be children that are at

20 risk Specifically this is a very high population

21 of children who will qualify for free and reduced

22 lunch What about the kids that cant pay for

23 their food what are they going to do all day in

24 class We cant starve children thats wrong

25 Theres no money in the budget for -shy

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

2 MS HEINEY Im sorry

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

4 MS HEINEY Theres no money in the budget

5 for food so theres no money theres no plan

6 And this is an area that has direct effect on

7 health and well-being of the children

8 The action plan that they gave is completely

9 unrealistic and does not meet up against their

10 academic standards For example they state that

11 theyre going to use Achieve 3000 Achieve 3000

12 is a difficult product to use It does require

13 training

14 And the startup budget and the statement of

15 cash flow is there is no money whatsoever for

16 teacher training So are these teachers supposed

17 to walk in on their first day knowing how to use

18 it The action plan says theres going to be

19 training but theres no money for it so how are

20 you going do it As I said theres quite a bit

21 of reasons And if you have any questions we

22 would be more than happy to respond

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay This takes us to

24 Issue 1 whether the applicant failed to comply

25 with the educational plan regarding guiding

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1 principles target population educational program

2 design curriculum plan student performance

3 assessment and evaluation exceptional students

4 and English language learners

5 So the school if you want to have a couple

6 of minutes to speak directly to the educational

7 plan and then well give the district the same

8 amount of time

9 MS ALEXANDER Sure With respect to the

10 mission statement we believe that the denial was

11 not supported by competent substantial evidence in

12 any way For example the School Board alleges

13 that we didnt provide an adequate mission

14 statement or describe how the school utilizes

15 guiding principles

16 As you can kind of get the sense from hearing

17 Dr Myers hes got a pretty sophisticated sense

18 of mission And with respect to the mission

19 statement the application specifically says on

20 Page 4 The mission statement of the charter high

21 school is to provide an exemplary personalized

22 learning program in a supportive resource rich

23 contemporary learning environment Stephen Biko

24 Charter High School is dedicated to excellence and

25 committed to nurturing passionate lifelong

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1 learners

2 It also says that The school will meet the

3 high standards of student achievement by

4 supporting positive academic outcomes for students

5 by addressing the academic social economical -shy

6 Im sorry -- emotional and behavioral needs of

7 enrolled students And it says that High

8 standards will be evident which will offer parents

9 and guardians of students currently attending the

10 elementary and charter schools of Duval County the

11 flexibility to choose the school

12 So our view is that if you actually look at

13 the application there is a specific mission its

14 very clear and in fact weve met the standard

15 Just as an aside there was a reference to a

16 private school cant be a charter school

17 Dr Myers started the private school on donations

18 alone in the interim because he wanted to try to

19 start offering education to the average students

20 as quickly as possible He consulted with the DOE

21 and was told that in fact he could open up the

22 school and that if the charter is granted he

23 could transition from the private school into the

24 charter model so there isnt any prohibition

25 against how hes doing it

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1 But our view is if you look at the

2 application there is a clear mission its

3 outlined there and it did meet the standard So

4 thank you

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

6 District

7 DR MYERS Can I

8 CHAIRMAN CHU You have about 30 seconds

9 DR MYERS Thank you I contacted the

10 Department of Education and they expressed to me

11 that I have to close the school and once I close

12 the school every child has to apply So that was

13 done prior to opening up the private school

14 As they stated theres nowhere in that

15 application where it states (inaudible) So all

16 of these things are preposterous in what theyre

17 saying and its just things that theyre trying

18 to elaborate to make the application look bad

19 As I expressed to you Board members this

20 application was approved similar last year It

21 was the exact application So everything that

22 shes coming up with and all three of them does

23 not make sense it does not It does not weigh

24 this application God knows it does not And

25 they cannot give you sufficient reasons why

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1 Thats why they come in with all of these

2 fictitious false allegations against this

3 application Thats all theyre doing They

4 approved this application last year they did

5 And thats all Im asking for

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right District

7 MR McDUFFIE Just briefly and I will turn

8 the mic over to Ms Bowen

9 This is the second time youve heard that

10 there was a mirror application from last year I

11 would like to ask the Commission to go to Page 39

12 of the application There is a specific provision

13 in the application which says if the school

14 intends to replicate an existing school design

15 you are supposed to notify the district under E

16 and F in that section

17 In their application that section is blank

18 okay So they are replicating an existing school

19 design they did not notify us of that in the

20 application

21 And secondly that also takes away the

22 innovative factor of the school If theyre

23 replicating an existing school what is innovative

24 about their charter school

25 Just briefly again with respect to that

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1 private school the application is in the name of

2 Stephen Biko Private Charter School so it is a

3 private school that is making the application

4 MS BOWEN I would just like to add that if

5 there was an application that was approved last

6 year within the past five years we would be glad

7 to go back and look if theres a name thats

8 submitted for us to do reference But when we

9 looked through all of our prior applications we

10 could find no areas where there was similar an

11 exact model of an approved application that had

12 already been approved by the district

13 But to respond to point one as far as the

14 guiding principle section the mission statement

15 was general it was vague and it did not describe

16 meaningful or measurable priority It

17 inefficiently defines the values of the school and

18 was inconsistent with the appellants subsequent

19 educational program plan The question of the

20 guidance embedded within question one clearly says

21 that it should explain what the school intends to

22 do for whom and to what degree And I failed to

23 be able to fully answer all of those questions by

24 reading the statement

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Were going to have a QampA

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1 session so what were going to do now is let me

2 ask the Commission members do you have any

3 questions

4 MS BRUBAKER I would like to hear how

5 you -shy

6 DR MYERS Me

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes Dr Myers How you plan

8 on taking those low performing students to be able

9 to do dual enrollment or AP classes

10 DR MYERS Well first of all as those

11 students arrive in the school various testing

12 will be done on those students TABE testing also

13 WRAT4 testing and various things We would look

14 at the matrix of where the kid came from

15 We have a child now that came to us Georgia

16 from one of the schools in Georgia where he was

17 functioning at a lower level The WRAT4 which is

18 designed to motivate the child and test the child

19 TABE test then we get a matrix from that and we

20 set a curriculum for -- excuse me -- we set the

21 curriculum for the child give the child

22 appropriate courses that the child has already

23 taken or retake again

24 So we move the child in small groups which

25 would be one-on-one learning or it could be group

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1 learning activities The chairs in the classroom

2 are set up and a table where one to one and one to

3 one where the child can model the other child and

4 move forward

5 The APEX curriculum which is used in Duval

6 County Public Schools they just finished using

7 the APEX curriculum in one of their failing

8 schools which moved -- increased the grade two

9 grades -- I think one or two grades at Andrew

10 Jackson High School They have the APEX They

11 have several schools in Duval County thats using

12 the APEX curriculum So its a Florida curriculum

13 that is being used

14 As they expressed the application -- when I

15 looked at the application since I was using the

16 APEX curriculum I said okay why not modify this

17 and put it back into context where its being

18 used So what were doing is we just wrote the

19 application in regards to what they wanted They

20 wanted APEX We put the APEX in there Its a

21 proven fact that its successful in their public

22 schools

23 MS ALEXANDER Can you answer her questions

24 I think which is how you are going to move the low

25 learners up to eventually taking the AP test

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1 DR MYERS Right Im sorry I know I only

2 have a few more minutes or a few seconds But

3 eventually as they progress in each area in math

4 science social studies then we test again So

5 we test at the beginning test at the end

6 And as they -- at the midterm level it tells

7 us whether or not theyre going to be remediated

8 in the course or move forward As they move

9 forward we get the curriculum more rigorous again

10 for them and the next course which is in line so

11 basically one on one and group learning is

12 efficient for them Theyre going to have to take

13 the same courses but if theyre testing at lower

14 levels thats where the individualized

15 instruction will help them

16 Did I answer it

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

18 respond to that

19 MR McDUFFIE Ms Bowen would like to

20 respond But I just want to make it also clear

21 that that -- what was just explained verbally is

22 not in the application

23 MS BOWEN The APEX curriculum is about a

24 curriculum for a set population of students as

25 well as the TABE Assessment they test and measure

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1 students basic skills The expectation under the

2 Common Core the FCAT 20 far exceeds that

3 curriculum And yes we have used it with some

4 of our most lowest performing students and Andrew

5 Jackson did make some gains but they still have

6 19 percent of their students are reading

7 proficiently

8 So my concern is with that curriculum I know

9 that there is something that you needed to have a

10 better indication that was going to provide the

11 teacher with a clear pathway of how to meet those

12 gaps By giving me an assessment thats only

13 measuring my minimum skills it does not

14 demonstrate the expectation of the Lexile level

15 thats required for a college entrance And on

16 Page 39 of his application it clearly states for

17 students who are interested in pre-med coursework

18 The expectation for reading cannot be

19 provided with the diagnosis information that you

20 get with a TABE Assessment or an APEX curriculum

21 Page 10 -- Im sorry I said Page 39 its stuck

22 in my head for some reason -- but on Page 10 it

23 talks about pre-med students and the other

24 innovative -- because thats what hes saying

25 its one of the innovative factors of this

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1 program

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you Are there other

3 questions from the Commission members

4 MS BRADLEY I have a question

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Verdya

6 MS BRADLEY My question is for the school

7 the applicant Is this a solely online program

8 DR MYERS No maam Its basically online

9 and direct instruction

10 MS BRADLEY Do you discuss direct

11 instruction in here

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY The reason that I ask that

14 question is the questions in the application asks

15 specifically for a description of the curriculum

16 a description of the reading program And in your

17 responses your responses pretty much tie back to

18 the APEX curriculum so it appears that it is

19 solely reliant on And then all of the

20 documentation that you gave was from the APEX

21 program So I was just wondering is it just

22 solely online

23 DR MYERS The majority of it but theres a

24 piece where the direct instruction is in place

25 with the child because the children are culled

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1 out for the particular course learning for the

2 subject area that theyre doing The regular

3 curriculum comes in -- the APEX Lexile learning

4 comes in Everything is designed where its

5 implemented on the laptop for the child If the

6 child needs direct instruction the child is

7 culled out into an environment where he or she

8 receives the one-on-one instruction

9 MS BRADLEY Did you discuss that in here

10 DR MYERS Im pretty sure I did

11 MS ALEXANDER What page are you looking at

12 for these

13 MS BRADLEY Well it kind of goes back and

14 forth It starts on Page 16 where it starts

15 talking about the educational program and then it

16 gives me probably about 20 30 pages on APEX and

17 then it goes into the reading curriculum But Im

18 not seeing anywhere where theres any supplement

19 to that

20 Because even the question on Page 16 was

21 Describe the proposed reading or educational

22 program it sort of goes through elements of the

23 APEX program Then on Page 68 it says Describe

24 the reading curriculum

25 DR MYERS Yes maam If you look at

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1 the -shy

2 MS HITCHCOCK Stand up please

3 DR MYERS Im sorry

4 CHAIRMAN CHU If you could come to the mic

5 that would be very helpful because our court

6 reporter is trying to get it all down

7 DR MYERS Im sorry The bullet there

8 says Direct instruction individual and small

9 group instruction led by highly-qualified

10 teachers

11 MS ESPOSITO Say the page

12 MS BRADLEY Thats on Page 16 But its

13 just part of the -- its sort of an isolated

14 bullet but it doesnt explain it any further than

15 that You know it doesnt tell me that there is

16 going to be a pull-out portion

17 DR MYERS Right But as I stated I just

18 put a little piece in there because thats just a

19 little piece of the curriculum and thats why I

20 just mentioned a little piece of it there The

21 majority of it is an online based curriculum

22 MS HODGENS I have a question for the

23 school

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

25 MS HODGENS I am confused on the targeted

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1 population Im trying to get it on the motion

2 sheet so Im going to go to targeted population

3 first And I am a little confused on it because I

4 can read what you say on Page 12 And on Page 12

5 you talk about being open to all students and

6 then you talk about low-performing students and

7 then you go back to all students

8 And then when I go to Page 41 the curriculum

9 design you talk about students needing credit

10 recovery And then I continue on and I see AP

11 courses honor courses And again I dont want

12 to allude that I dont believe that kids can do

13 those courses but I want to understand what

14 population youre really looking at

15 DR MYERS Were looking at all students

16 within that demographic And within the

17 demographics it is a lower level You have lower

18 level one level two basically they are coming

19 from the downtown sector area within that 5-mile

20 radius area of the downtown

21 So when I say all students because a

22 charter school cannot deny a student from applying

23 or coming in all students are accepted if they

24 can meet transportation needs to come to school

25 So as I expressed to you thats what

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1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

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24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

Page 4: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

4

1 of the sections under each of the issues so the

2 parties know exactly what their rulings are with

3 respect to those particular sections And thats

4 really about it

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

6 Would the school like to present your

7 thoughts on this particular motion

8 MS ALEXANDER Sure Well we obviously

9 oppose the motion If you look at the case that

10 you just handled it was grouped and there was a

11 general vote Our view is that if you look at the

12 denial letter in this case there werent actually

13 any reasons listed by the School Board It

14 actually just refers to the evaluation instrument

15 And the only in fact area that we are

16 alleged to have been failing in was the curriculum

17 plan which we dispute and we can prove otherwise

18 But we argue thats really the only even area that

19 we should have to address considering there was

20 absolutely no reasons listed in the denial letter

21 And we dont think that theres any reason

22 under the law to go point by point by point by

23 point Its going to be obvious from the votes of

24 the Commission what their views were on a

25 particular area And the evaluation instrument is

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1 grouped in those fashions just for that very

2 reason because they fall under a particular

3 heading And given the fact that you just did it

4 earlier I dont see any reason to change And I

5 do think we would be prejudiced otherwise Thats

6 our opinion Thank you

7 CHAIRMAN CHU District do you want to

8 respond

9 MR McDUFFIE Sure With respect to the

10 denial letter the statute simply calls for the

11 district to articulate its reasons for denial

12 including the letter and supporting documentation

13 The district when it sent the letter of denial

14 also attached the evaluation instrument which

15 detailed all the reasons for the denial of the

16 applications

17 In addition theres been no prejudice the

18 appellate has responded to each and every one of

19 the denials -- each and every one of the sections

20 in their appeal brief so the appellant knows very

21 well what the issues are before it And again

22 were not extending the issues were simply

23 asking that the issues on the motion sheet be

24 voted on by the Board -- by the Commission Thank

25 you

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the school like to add

2 anything on that Ill give you two

3 opportunities

4 MS ALEXANDER No I appreciate that but

5 no thank you

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Counsel

7 MR SHINE I would just add Chair that

8 youve seen today and youve seen previously that

9 the Appeal Commission is certainly capable of

10 identifying the issues in bullet form under the

11 larger titles of educational plan the

12 organizational plan and then the third being the

13 budgetary issues under the business plan

14 Now theres nothing in the statute that

15 specifically requires that we do 14 issues

16 Theres 14 issues in this case Theres seven in

17 the first I believe three in the second and five

18 in the last

19 We had a one-page denial letter which I

20 respectfully disagree with the School Districts

21 attorney that this meets the letter and intent of

22 the statute The statutes references a denial

23 letter that specifically articulates in writing

24 the specific reasons

25 Well it incorporates by reference the

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1 specific reasons and then you must go back into

2 other documents to find the specific reasons And

3 their evaluation document and their document that

4 they prepared as a summary for the Board in

5 certain cases is contradictory So its a

6 difficult challenge for us to number one put

7 together the issue sheet but number two I think

8 youve seen already your initial instructions were

9 denial of any one of these reasons within any of

10 these bullets under the educational plan

11 constitutes good cause Then one of the members

12 in the last vote further clarified that issue

13 Im certain that the members of the Commission

14 understand that

15 Im certainly not seeing any prejudice to

16 either of the parties in the format that its

17 currently in And I think there is -- and most

18 importantly as youve seen in the prior cases

19 many of these issues are interrelated and the

20 explanation and the proof of whether or not they

21 met any one of the seven standards for the

22 educational plan its in the same area of the

23 application There is crossover between some of

24 the information that prove or disproves whether or

25 not theyve met that standard

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1 So I believe the way we have proposed it I

2 think is certainly consistent with the statutory

3 construct and theres no rule or statute that

4 would require us to do anything different

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counsel

6 I would agree with that I think the way

7 this Commission has historically operated -- I

8 mean we are certainly going to look at all of the

9 issues that currently -shy

10 MS HITCHCOCK Can you speak up

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes Jackie

12 Thank you very much counsel Given the way

13 that this Commission operates I dont see an

14 issue with continuing to operate the way we

15 usually do so your motion is denied So we will

16 continue with the way that we usually operate and

17 go through the various issues

18 Jackie if you would pass out the motion

19 sheets and then we can get started

20 All right We are going to get started So

21 again well give the school 15 minutes to present

22 your case and then well give the district the

23 same amount of time Again certainly being

24 succinct is appreciated

25 So with that proceed

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1 MS ALEXANDER I appreciate it Thank you

2 My name is Stephanie Alexander Im from the law

3 firm of Tripp Scott Im here today to represent

4 Stephen Biko Charter School

5 And with me to my right is Dr Greg Myers

6 Hes the principal and founder of the school and

7 also Joe Whitaker who is on the Board and he is

8 with the Jacksonville Economic Development

9 Council And if I could remember his long title

10 I would tell you what it is but Im sure that he

11 can do that

12 We all know what the law is in terms of the

13 standards so Im going to not really get into that

14 now And we also -- this isnt our first rodeo

15 Its getting late in the afternoon so Im not

16 going to go over it issue by issue in my opening

17 statement here Were going to do that as the

18 issues come up

19 But I wanted you all to understand the nature

20 of this charter school how it came about what

21 the status is of it today because I think thats

22 really important From our perspective the

23 overarching point is we think that -- and we think

24 that we will prove that the application should

25 have been granted And in fact it mirrors an

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1 application that Jacksonville -- Im sorry -- the

2 Duval County School Board actually approved the

3 year before So our opinion is that it should

4 have been sufficient it was sufficient the year

5 before and there really arent differences that

6 would account for the differences in treatment

7 But the more important point and which is

8 why I want you to understand how the charter

9 school got started where it is now and the

10 genesis of it is because I think that youll be

11 as impressed as I was to learn about the history

12 and what is going on now

13 And with that I would like to ask Dr Myers

14 to get up and give you a little five minutes about

15 where things are Thank you

16 DR MYERS Good afternoon everyone

17 Chairperson Board members Excuse me Im a

18 little tall

19 MS HITCHCOCK I think that we can probably

20 hear you Dr Myers you dont have to bend down

21 DR MYERS My name is Dr Myers Gregory

22 Myers educated at Duval County one of their

23 products with the school reared in Duval County

24 from elementary Originally from South America

25 came to the United States in 1968 immigrant

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1 parents West Indian mom Portuguese dad And it

2 was instilled to be the best in this world

3 I was a defiant kid had to be removed from

4 Duval County Public School System But it took a

5 principal that grabbed me and said that you are

6 the best and I believe in you And I went on and

7 graduated from high school received a football

8 scholarship went on to college graduated played

9 some professional football and returned back to

10 receive my masters degree my PhD in health

11 care administration

12 And I wanted to give something back to this

13 county that I represented and I saw a school that

14 was so vibrant and God touched me to say that

15 thats what I want you to do This is all about

16 this building Thats what this whole issue is

17 about Its about this great building the

18 oldest historical African-American high school in

19 the United States

20 They feel as though that Im going to take

21 their kids but this school is about every child

22 in Duval County Ive been granted the

23 opportunity by all the former mayors and the mayor

24 of Jacksonville to succeed in this because they

25 believe in me as an individual as an

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1 African-American to the community and one that

2 can put this together I would be blessed to have

3 a great partner of Joe Whitaker who has worked

4 with me diligently on this

5 The school is open now Weve opened as a

6 private school We had our first graduate this

7 December that went through all of the standards of

8 Duval County She came to us from a failing

9 school a failing school that was not progressing

10 But now she went from scoring a 14 on the ACT to a

11 19 That says that were doing something

12 We have up to 35 kids that are accelerating

13 using a curriculum called APEX curriculum which

14 is in their county They fostered the curriculum

15 Whats wrong with it Nothing

16 I know Im speaking but Im speaking from my

17 heart because this touches me Im one of theirs

18 educator and I have to be treated like this It

19 is wrong and thats how I feel because Im only

20 speaking from my heart And it hurts me today it

21 all hurts me All of this is for -- because this

22 is mirrored off an application that they approved

23 last year last year they approved this

24 application

25 So why should I have to be subject to what

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1 Im going through And it is wrong And Im only

2 speaking from my heart You cant throw me in the

3 garbage can speaking from my heart thats what

4 Im doing today

5 And Im just asking you to give me the

6 opportunity to show these individuals from my

7 county that I can be successful I am being

8 successful with these kids Im doing a great

9 job And former Mayor Delaney he inspired me to

10 do this because he said Greg you are passionate

11 Most individuals that open up charter schools open

12 them up for the wrong reasons they open them up

13 for funds I opening up because I love kids and I

14 want to change lives because Im tired of seeing

15 children go into the prison system and Im tired

16 of seeing children going wayward

17 The young lady that finished our school

18 shes now attending Virginia College received a

19 full scholarship Thats what this is all about

20 And if it could change my life imagine how it

21 could change other lives

22 So thats why it makes me upset it makes me

23 angry because Ive been going through this and

24 its all about this beautiful building Old

25 Stanton High School located right behind the new

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1 courthouse Thats what its all about All this

2 is is just a dog and pony show this is what its

3 about because they feel as though Im going to

4 take the kids from (inaudible) and Andrew Jackson

5 Thank you so much for listening to me and

6 Ill be responding to your questions

7 MS ALEXANDER As you can tell hes very

8 passionate about his school And he was in fact

9 urged by former Mayor Delaney to start the charter

10 school

11 And the building that hes showing and

12 referring to is actually right behind -- as he

13 said its right behind the brand new courthouse

14 And in fact the development authority which Joe

15 Whitaker will speak to has actually pledged funds

16 to refurbish the building And thats where the

17 charter school will be housed

18 And all of those plans are in place but in

19 fact because we dont have charter school

20 approval we cant go forward and get the funds to

21 rehab the school thats right behind the

22 courthouse in downtown Its part of the

23 revitalization district of downtown Jacksonville

24 What he forgot to stay was not only was he a

25 product of the education system in Jacksonville

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1 but he taught in the Duval County Schools for

2 many many years He was a football coach he was

3 a teacher he was an assistant principle he was a

4 principal in fact he ran three Drop In Academy

5 Schools in Duval before in fact deciding to open

6 up the new charter school at the urgence of former

7 Mayor John Delaney who is in fact on his Board

8 and as you all know is now the current President

9 of the University of North Florida So thats

10 really the backdrop of this

11 And Im going to turn it over to Joe

12 Whitaker who is on the Board and will give you a

13 little sense of whats going on with the building

14 so you get a sense of the whole background here

15 Thanks

16 MR WHITAKER Good afternoon My name is

17 Joe Whitaker and Im with the Mayors Office of

18 Economic Development for the City of Jacksonville

19 And I got intrigued by Mr Myers desire to open

20 up a charter school because I ran a loan program

21 for the City and I assisted him in another project

22 that he did to put something back into his

23 neighborhood So Ive watched him and Ive seen

24 his passion and his energy for getting things

25 done

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1 And one of the things that I admire about

2 Dr Myers is that he does what he says hes going

3 to do when he says hes going to do it And

4 thats fairly rare in my opinion

5 I would like to just clear up any other

6 misunderstandings The City of Jacksonville has

7 yet not pledged funds for his project until we

8 have a charter school designation so that we dont

9 waste a lot of time trying to raise money But

10 essentially the Old Stanton High School was built

11 in 1901 and it is now just a shell and it is

12 governed by a not-for-profit Board And we have

13 achieved the first step of the goal and that is

14 they have given us site control

15 So we do have the ability if were granted a

16 charter to be able to go out then and raise the

17 funds to be able to rehabilitate this building and

18 actually put upwards of 400 young students in

19 there in high school

20 And we dont have a high school in downtown

21 Jacksonville and we believe that this opportunity

22 to redevelop the Old Stanton building is a

23 worthwhile endeavor on behalf of our redevelopment

24 efforts and were anxious to do that

25 We have put together a Board that we believe

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1 has the fundraising capacity to be able to

2 generate enough private capital to get this kicked

3 off And the City of Jacksonville has an historic

4 loan fund that we have the ability to be able to

5 get some money from to finish the product And we

6 think its going to be a success

7 Downtown Jacksonville is going through its

8 own renaissance We have people moving downtown

9 and were bringing more retail downtown and our

10 Mayor is focused on rebuilding downtown So we

11 believe that we have an opportunity to be

12 successful

13 I chose to volunteer to be on Gregs Board

14 because I believe in him And we have been

15 working to get other prominent people in the

16 community on this Board so that we can make a

17 difference Thats what this is all about

18 As an economic development professional with

19 the City of Jacksonville for the last 30 years

20 Ive been involved in a lot of projects 156

21 projects since 2001 and weve generated private

22 capital investments of $14 million and weve

23 created 15000 jobs So the group that Im

24 working with we believe that this is achievable

25 But the first step is to get site control we

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1 have that Now the next step is we get the

2 charter then we have the ability to be able to

3 raise the funds you know to put this project

4 together Ill be happy to answer any questions

5 you may have

6 MS ALEXANDER Given that the school has

7 already opened and is successfully educating

8 students we believe that there wasnt good cause

9 in fact to deny the application and we will be

10 happy to answer any questions with respect to the

11 specific categories I just didnt want to go

12 through them twice given that its late in the

13 day So I just wanted to give you a background

14 thats where we are And we respectfully request

15 that you grant our appeal and thank you very

16 much

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

18 Representatives for the district

19 MR McDUFFIE Thank you members of the

20 Commission Again my name is Brian McDuffie

21 Im Executive Director for Policy and Compliance

22 with Duval County Public Schools

23 With me to my left is Ms Jackie Bowen

24 Executive Director for Academic Services

25 Ms Angela Heiney who is Coordinator of Financial

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1 Reporting We also have Karen Chastain who is

2 Chief Legal Officer for the district as well as

3 Shanita Roper and Anita Henry-Smith who are from

4 our charter schools office

5 The first thing that I want to touch upon is

6 the charter school climate in Duval County We

7 approved 13 out of 15 applications that went to

8 the Board during this last cycle We currently

9 have 21 charter schools operating in Duval County

10 And I think if every application or every

11 applicant that had good intentions had their

12 charter school approved there would be an

13 overwhelming number of charter schools It is not

14 necessarily about worthwhile intentions

15 And there has never been any question on our

16 part about the integrity of the people trying to

17 start this charter school none whatsoever They

18 appear to be good people with good intentions It

19 is not about that It is also not about

20 redeveloping downtown Jacksonville It is about

21 the children

22 And thats what we have been given the task

23 of doing as a sponsor to look and make sure that

24 when these applications come in that the children

25 are protected

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1 What Im going to do today is basically

2 provide the Commission with a slight overview with

3 respect to Issue 2 Ms Heiney will talk with

4 respect to Issue 3 And Ms Bowen will talk with

5 respect to Issue 1 just as an overview

6 So moving to Issue 2 governance the first

7 thing -- again keep within the time

8 constraints -- as a highlight the applicant is a

9 private school That in and on its face is a

10 reason for denial If you look at Florida

11 Statutes 100233(3)(b) a private school cannot be

12 a charter school

13 Moving on to management With respect to the

14 management section we were provided with

15 essentially a lot of vague information They

16 failed to give the management structure job

17 descriptions for teachers the administrative

18 positions They failed to give criteria as to how

19 they were going to select teachers And they also

20 failed to describe how they were going to monitor

21 teacher certification as well as how to fill

22 status

23 Based on these measures with respect to

24 Issue 2 under governance and management we feel

25 that the School Board had competent substantial

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1 evidence and good cause to deny the application

2 And next to speak will be Ms Jackie Bowen

3 MS BOWEN Good afternoon Im Jacqueline

4 Bowen the Academic Services Executive Director

5 I do appreciate the applicants passion for

6 students thats why Im here But I would also

7 like to reiterate as our counsel has said that I

8 am not a historical resident of Jacksonville And

9 as we review applications I have no knowledge of

10 many of the historical factors or the political

11 things that are behind it having only been in the

12 city for 12 years My goal and every analysis or

13 review of the complete instructional plan is that

14 it benefit children

15 So in reviewing the actual application there

16 were great deficiencies in the areas of the

17 guiding principles the targeted population was

18 very unclear the education program design the

19 curriculum plan the student performance

20 assessments evaluation the actual educational

21 supporting plan for the ESE population as well as

22 ELL students

23 So for example within this application

24 its supposed to provide any reader or reviewer a

25 very clear picture of what a student will need to

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1 do and what they will experience as they are

2 attending that institution meaning that I should

3 have an understanding of the applicant And the

4 applicant was real clear that he wanted to

5 provide the whole child and provide that

6 experience

7 But it didnt give me a clear understanding

8 or the reviewers upon my team about the

9 structure how the things that were identified

10 were truly going to support and guide teachers

11 decisions to make sure theyre meeting the

12 standards of the NGSS and the Common Core and

13 ultimately graduating

14 The application was indistinguishable between

15 the targeted population because at one point it

16 talked about at-risk students from a particular

17 5-mile geographic dynamics and then it said all

18 students no matter what according to the

19 standard of expectation

20 The applicant briefly described a pre-med

21 program a dual enrollment advanced placement

22 classes And the appeal reiterated the error by

23 describing instructional programs and learning

24 strategies but they failed to provide a clear

25 picture as to how you were going to take

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1 struggling students or any student to that

2 advanced and rigorous curriculum

3 And as we can say that the standard requires

4 the application to explain not only what the

5 school is going to teach but how they were going

6 to teach it I was continually searching which

7 Im not required to do throughout the entire

8 application to see how was this instruction going

9 to be -- what is that child going to experience on

10 a daily basis And it was very unclear

11 Statute 100233 also states that the charter

12 application must have a detailed curriculum plan

13 a curriculum plan not a curriculum resource a

14 plan for instruction that illustrates how those

15 students are going to be provided services to meet

16 those graduation requirements We are in the

17 business of graduating students

18 So the application also didnt provide a very

19 clear reading curriculum They referenced the

20 Just Read Florida Website which Im very happy

21 that they were there supporting but it is a

22 resource document it does not outline a

23 curriculum plan And unfortunately -- and Im

24 saying this in this building -- it really only

25 sports primary education When you get towards

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1 secondary the resources become very limited And

2 I know theyre working on that

3 So the statute requires that we deny the

4 application on the fact that the reading

5 curriculum plan was not sufficient at all

6 Another key issue that was concerning which

7 led to a good cause denial of the application was

8 that a risk of students not being prepared for the

9 FCAT Because they identified assessments which

10 Im very familiar with failed to have the

11 measuring tools that would guide teacher

12 instruction in being able to support deficiencies

13 or make accommodations or get those students ready

14 for that you know accelerated dual enrollment

15 advanced AP or pre-med curriculum

16 Im going to wrap it up because I know

17 everybody is ready to go When we talk about our

18 ELL students and we are doing a lot within our

19 districts to better support all students there

20 was really -- I struggled with finding out how the

21 students were going to enter our school And an

22 ELL student is just one designation because you

23 can have an ELL student that also has an ESE

24 designation and has some little deficiencies in

25 particular other areas

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1 There was no -- they failed to demonstrate

2 how they were going to make choices of selecting

3 the appropriate materials to meet the needs of all

4 students

5 To say we will select resources but there

6 was no clear indication of how those decisions

7 would be made The assessments didnt provide

8 that detailed information to guide that choice so

9 upon that there was no reason but to have a good

10 cause for denial

11 MS HEINEY Good afternoon My name is

12 Angela Heiney H-e-i-n-e-y and I reviewed the

13 business plan for the applicant As an overview

14 the entire business plan did not meet the standard

15 with the exception of the transportation which

16 only partially met the standard

17 There were quite a few reasons that we found

18 for this The biggest -- there were statutory

19 failures all over the place 100233(6)(a)5

20 states that there has to be an annual financial

21 plan based on projected revenues and expenditures

22 What we found is that the revenues and

23 expenditures provided were unsubstantiated

24 unsupported and there was missing money all over

25 the place For example on Page 107 the

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1 applicant states theyre going to take out

2 $500000 in loans to fund their startup however

3 if you look at their five-year business plan

4 there is no repayment for those loans And they

5 provided absolutely no correspondence from any

6 lending institution that says theyre willing to

7 give half a million dollars and not expect a penny

8 back for over five years In this current

9 economic climate that rarely if ever happens

10 Ive never seen it

11 The application and the denial or the

12 response to the denial that was filed -- the

13 notice of appeal -- there were several points that

14 were made in our denial however they never even

15 discussed those

16 For example the application specifically

17 states that they plan on contracting out HR and

18 accounting services however they dont know how

19 much it is so they didnt even include that in

20 their budget For some of our schools that is

21 thousands and thousands of dollars a year just

22 missing

23 Theres inconsistencies Mr Whitaker just

24 stated that the City of Jacksonville has not

25 promised the money However Page 104 states that

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1 they have a verbal commitment There is no

2 evidence of any commitment no letters from former

3 Mayor Delaney no letters from current Mayor

4 Browns office anybody even suggesting that they

5 know who this school is and that theyre willing

6 to support it

7 A second statutory failing occurs again in

8 (6)(a)5 where it states that the application must

9 have a description of controls that safeguard

10 financing

11 During the general help session the

12 applicants were told they must give detailed

13 procedures on certain areas Why Because these

14 are the areas that consistently have fraud

15 errors thefts mistakes We dont like to

16 believe that will happen at schools but frankly

17 bad things do happen

18 They were told you must have accounts

19 payables accounts receivables cash management

20 payroll those areas Why This is where weve

21 seen problems happen There was nothing There

22 was some general policy given on Pages 113 and 14

23 And they state on Page 113 there will be

24 implementation of many internal financial

25 controls however that is not a description of

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1 controls which is what is mandated by the

2 statute

3 Another failing occurs on Statute 21839

4 This statute mandates the use of an independent

5 certified public account for performing annual

6 financial reporting so the audited financial

7 statements which are required

8 In Attachment 7 it states that the same

9 person providing accounting services will also

10 perform the auditing services According to the

11 American Institute of CPAs this is actually a

12 violation of independence and an ethics violation

13 itself So anybody who is willing to do both is

14 not by statute an independent auditor And they

15 have stated in their application thats what

16 theyre going to do

17 When you see one statutory violation that is

18 certainly competent and substantial evidence for

19 denial When you see at least three just in one

20 section now were getting overwhelming grounds

21 for denial

22 But we also saw areas in the facilities where

23 they simply state that they will meet statute

24 Saying youre going to meet statute is not the

25 same as explaining what youre going to do

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1 Theyre stating in their financials that theyre

2 going to have $3 million worth of renovations

3 What on earth are you going to do for $3 million

4 Mr Whitaker stated that the building is just

5 a shell However the application states that it

6 is currently being in use by a daycare for the

7 Urban League So whats going on Theres no

8 consistency between whats being said whats

9 being done in the application

10 In that stance we do not make assumptions

11 We must go with what is written So any verbal

12 statements we cant justify that because all we

13 can hold the applicant to is what has been written

14 in that document

15 We have a problem with food service They

16 state that theyre not going to use NSLP and

17 theyre going to contract a vendor which is

18 perfectly acceptable except their target

19 population is going to be children that are at

20 risk Specifically this is a very high population

21 of children who will qualify for free and reduced

22 lunch What about the kids that cant pay for

23 their food what are they going to do all day in

24 class We cant starve children thats wrong

25 Theres no money in the budget for -shy

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

2 MS HEINEY Im sorry

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

4 MS HEINEY Theres no money in the budget

5 for food so theres no money theres no plan

6 And this is an area that has direct effect on

7 health and well-being of the children

8 The action plan that they gave is completely

9 unrealistic and does not meet up against their

10 academic standards For example they state that

11 theyre going to use Achieve 3000 Achieve 3000

12 is a difficult product to use It does require

13 training

14 And the startup budget and the statement of

15 cash flow is there is no money whatsoever for

16 teacher training So are these teachers supposed

17 to walk in on their first day knowing how to use

18 it The action plan says theres going to be

19 training but theres no money for it so how are

20 you going do it As I said theres quite a bit

21 of reasons And if you have any questions we

22 would be more than happy to respond

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay This takes us to

24 Issue 1 whether the applicant failed to comply

25 with the educational plan regarding guiding

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1 principles target population educational program

2 design curriculum plan student performance

3 assessment and evaluation exceptional students

4 and English language learners

5 So the school if you want to have a couple

6 of minutes to speak directly to the educational

7 plan and then well give the district the same

8 amount of time

9 MS ALEXANDER Sure With respect to the

10 mission statement we believe that the denial was

11 not supported by competent substantial evidence in

12 any way For example the School Board alleges

13 that we didnt provide an adequate mission

14 statement or describe how the school utilizes

15 guiding principles

16 As you can kind of get the sense from hearing

17 Dr Myers hes got a pretty sophisticated sense

18 of mission And with respect to the mission

19 statement the application specifically says on

20 Page 4 The mission statement of the charter high

21 school is to provide an exemplary personalized

22 learning program in a supportive resource rich

23 contemporary learning environment Stephen Biko

24 Charter High School is dedicated to excellence and

25 committed to nurturing passionate lifelong

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1 learners

2 It also says that The school will meet the

3 high standards of student achievement by

4 supporting positive academic outcomes for students

5 by addressing the academic social economical -shy

6 Im sorry -- emotional and behavioral needs of

7 enrolled students And it says that High

8 standards will be evident which will offer parents

9 and guardians of students currently attending the

10 elementary and charter schools of Duval County the

11 flexibility to choose the school

12 So our view is that if you actually look at

13 the application there is a specific mission its

14 very clear and in fact weve met the standard

15 Just as an aside there was a reference to a

16 private school cant be a charter school

17 Dr Myers started the private school on donations

18 alone in the interim because he wanted to try to

19 start offering education to the average students

20 as quickly as possible He consulted with the DOE

21 and was told that in fact he could open up the

22 school and that if the charter is granted he

23 could transition from the private school into the

24 charter model so there isnt any prohibition

25 against how hes doing it

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1 But our view is if you look at the

2 application there is a clear mission its

3 outlined there and it did meet the standard So

4 thank you

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

6 District

7 DR MYERS Can I

8 CHAIRMAN CHU You have about 30 seconds

9 DR MYERS Thank you I contacted the

10 Department of Education and they expressed to me

11 that I have to close the school and once I close

12 the school every child has to apply So that was

13 done prior to opening up the private school

14 As they stated theres nowhere in that

15 application where it states (inaudible) So all

16 of these things are preposterous in what theyre

17 saying and its just things that theyre trying

18 to elaborate to make the application look bad

19 As I expressed to you Board members this

20 application was approved similar last year It

21 was the exact application So everything that

22 shes coming up with and all three of them does

23 not make sense it does not It does not weigh

24 this application God knows it does not And

25 they cannot give you sufficient reasons why

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1 Thats why they come in with all of these

2 fictitious false allegations against this

3 application Thats all theyre doing They

4 approved this application last year they did

5 And thats all Im asking for

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right District

7 MR McDUFFIE Just briefly and I will turn

8 the mic over to Ms Bowen

9 This is the second time youve heard that

10 there was a mirror application from last year I

11 would like to ask the Commission to go to Page 39

12 of the application There is a specific provision

13 in the application which says if the school

14 intends to replicate an existing school design

15 you are supposed to notify the district under E

16 and F in that section

17 In their application that section is blank

18 okay So they are replicating an existing school

19 design they did not notify us of that in the

20 application

21 And secondly that also takes away the

22 innovative factor of the school If theyre

23 replicating an existing school what is innovative

24 about their charter school

25 Just briefly again with respect to that

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1 private school the application is in the name of

2 Stephen Biko Private Charter School so it is a

3 private school that is making the application

4 MS BOWEN I would just like to add that if

5 there was an application that was approved last

6 year within the past five years we would be glad

7 to go back and look if theres a name thats

8 submitted for us to do reference But when we

9 looked through all of our prior applications we

10 could find no areas where there was similar an

11 exact model of an approved application that had

12 already been approved by the district

13 But to respond to point one as far as the

14 guiding principle section the mission statement

15 was general it was vague and it did not describe

16 meaningful or measurable priority It

17 inefficiently defines the values of the school and

18 was inconsistent with the appellants subsequent

19 educational program plan The question of the

20 guidance embedded within question one clearly says

21 that it should explain what the school intends to

22 do for whom and to what degree And I failed to

23 be able to fully answer all of those questions by

24 reading the statement

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Were going to have a QampA

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1 session so what were going to do now is let me

2 ask the Commission members do you have any

3 questions

4 MS BRUBAKER I would like to hear how

5 you -shy

6 DR MYERS Me

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes Dr Myers How you plan

8 on taking those low performing students to be able

9 to do dual enrollment or AP classes

10 DR MYERS Well first of all as those

11 students arrive in the school various testing

12 will be done on those students TABE testing also

13 WRAT4 testing and various things We would look

14 at the matrix of where the kid came from

15 We have a child now that came to us Georgia

16 from one of the schools in Georgia where he was

17 functioning at a lower level The WRAT4 which is

18 designed to motivate the child and test the child

19 TABE test then we get a matrix from that and we

20 set a curriculum for -- excuse me -- we set the

21 curriculum for the child give the child

22 appropriate courses that the child has already

23 taken or retake again

24 So we move the child in small groups which

25 would be one-on-one learning or it could be group

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1 learning activities The chairs in the classroom

2 are set up and a table where one to one and one to

3 one where the child can model the other child and

4 move forward

5 The APEX curriculum which is used in Duval

6 County Public Schools they just finished using

7 the APEX curriculum in one of their failing

8 schools which moved -- increased the grade two

9 grades -- I think one or two grades at Andrew

10 Jackson High School They have the APEX They

11 have several schools in Duval County thats using

12 the APEX curriculum So its a Florida curriculum

13 that is being used

14 As they expressed the application -- when I

15 looked at the application since I was using the

16 APEX curriculum I said okay why not modify this

17 and put it back into context where its being

18 used So what were doing is we just wrote the

19 application in regards to what they wanted They

20 wanted APEX We put the APEX in there Its a

21 proven fact that its successful in their public

22 schools

23 MS ALEXANDER Can you answer her questions

24 I think which is how you are going to move the low

25 learners up to eventually taking the AP test

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1 DR MYERS Right Im sorry I know I only

2 have a few more minutes or a few seconds But

3 eventually as they progress in each area in math

4 science social studies then we test again So

5 we test at the beginning test at the end

6 And as they -- at the midterm level it tells

7 us whether or not theyre going to be remediated

8 in the course or move forward As they move

9 forward we get the curriculum more rigorous again

10 for them and the next course which is in line so

11 basically one on one and group learning is

12 efficient for them Theyre going to have to take

13 the same courses but if theyre testing at lower

14 levels thats where the individualized

15 instruction will help them

16 Did I answer it

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

18 respond to that

19 MR McDUFFIE Ms Bowen would like to

20 respond But I just want to make it also clear

21 that that -- what was just explained verbally is

22 not in the application

23 MS BOWEN The APEX curriculum is about a

24 curriculum for a set population of students as

25 well as the TABE Assessment they test and measure

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1 students basic skills The expectation under the

2 Common Core the FCAT 20 far exceeds that

3 curriculum And yes we have used it with some

4 of our most lowest performing students and Andrew

5 Jackson did make some gains but they still have

6 19 percent of their students are reading

7 proficiently

8 So my concern is with that curriculum I know

9 that there is something that you needed to have a

10 better indication that was going to provide the

11 teacher with a clear pathway of how to meet those

12 gaps By giving me an assessment thats only

13 measuring my minimum skills it does not

14 demonstrate the expectation of the Lexile level

15 thats required for a college entrance And on

16 Page 39 of his application it clearly states for

17 students who are interested in pre-med coursework

18 The expectation for reading cannot be

19 provided with the diagnosis information that you

20 get with a TABE Assessment or an APEX curriculum

21 Page 10 -- Im sorry I said Page 39 its stuck

22 in my head for some reason -- but on Page 10 it

23 talks about pre-med students and the other

24 innovative -- because thats what hes saying

25 its one of the innovative factors of this

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1 program

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you Are there other

3 questions from the Commission members

4 MS BRADLEY I have a question

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Verdya

6 MS BRADLEY My question is for the school

7 the applicant Is this a solely online program

8 DR MYERS No maam Its basically online

9 and direct instruction

10 MS BRADLEY Do you discuss direct

11 instruction in here

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY The reason that I ask that

14 question is the questions in the application asks

15 specifically for a description of the curriculum

16 a description of the reading program And in your

17 responses your responses pretty much tie back to

18 the APEX curriculum so it appears that it is

19 solely reliant on And then all of the

20 documentation that you gave was from the APEX

21 program So I was just wondering is it just

22 solely online

23 DR MYERS The majority of it but theres a

24 piece where the direct instruction is in place

25 with the child because the children are culled

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1 out for the particular course learning for the

2 subject area that theyre doing The regular

3 curriculum comes in -- the APEX Lexile learning

4 comes in Everything is designed where its

5 implemented on the laptop for the child If the

6 child needs direct instruction the child is

7 culled out into an environment where he or she

8 receives the one-on-one instruction

9 MS BRADLEY Did you discuss that in here

10 DR MYERS Im pretty sure I did

11 MS ALEXANDER What page are you looking at

12 for these

13 MS BRADLEY Well it kind of goes back and

14 forth It starts on Page 16 where it starts

15 talking about the educational program and then it

16 gives me probably about 20 30 pages on APEX and

17 then it goes into the reading curriculum But Im

18 not seeing anywhere where theres any supplement

19 to that

20 Because even the question on Page 16 was

21 Describe the proposed reading or educational

22 program it sort of goes through elements of the

23 APEX program Then on Page 68 it says Describe

24 the reading curriculum

25 DR MYERS Yes maam If you look at

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1 the -shy

2 MS HITCHCOCK Stand up please

3 DR MYERS Im sorry

4 CHAIRMAN CHU If you could come to the mic

5 that would be very helpful because our court

6 reporter is trying to get it all down

7 DR MYERS Im sorry The bullet there

8 says Direct instruction individual and small

9 group instruction led by highly-qualified

10 teachers

11 MS ESPOSITO Say the page

12 MS BRADLEY Thats on Page 16 But its

13 just part of the -- its sort of an isolated

14 bullet but it doesnt explain it any further than

15 that You know it doesnt tell me that there is

16 going to be a pull-out portion

17 DR MYERS Right But as I stated I just

18 put a little piece in there because thats just a

19 little piece of the curriculum and thats why I

20 just mentioned a little piece of it there The

21 majority of it is an online based curriculum

22 MS HODGENS I have a question for the

23 school

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

25 MS HODGENS I am confused on the targeted

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1 population Im trying to get it on the motion

2 sheet so Im going to go to targeted population

3 first And I am a little confused on it because I

4 can read what you say on Page 12 And on Page 12

5 you talk about being open to all students and

6 then you talk about low-performing students and

7 then you go back to all students

8 And then when I go to Page 41 the curriculum

9 design you talk about students needing credit

10 recovery And then I continue on and I see AP

11 courses honor courses And again I dont want

12 to allude that I dont believe that kids can do

13 those courses but I want to understand what

14 population youre really looking at

15 DR MYERS Were looking at all students

16 within that demographic And within the

17 demographics it is a lower level You have lower

18 level one level two basically they are coming

19 from the downtown sector area within that 5-mile

20 radius area of the downtown

21 So when I say all students because a

22 charter school cannot deny a student from applying

23 or coming in all students are accepted if they

24 can meet transportation needs to come to school

25 So as I expressed to you thats what

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1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

Page 5: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

5

1 grouped in those fashions just for that very

2 reason because they fall under a particular

3 heading And given the fact that you just did it

4 earlier I dont see any reason to change And I

5 do think we would be prejudiced otherwise Thats

6 our opinion Thank you

7 CHAIRMAN CHU District do you want to

8 respond

9 MR McDUFFIE Sure With respect to the

10 denial letter the statute simply calls for the

11 district to articulate its reasons for denial

12 including the letter and supporting documentation

13 The district when it sent the letter of denial

14 also attached the evaluation instrument which

15 detailed all the reasons for the denial of the

16 applications

17 In addition theres been no prejudice the

18 appellate has responded to each and every one of

19 the denials -- each and every one of the sections

20 in their appeal brief so the appellant knows very

21 well what the issues are before it And again

22 were not extending the issues were simply

23 asking that the issues on the motion sheet be

24 voted on by the Board -- by the Commission Thank

25 you

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the school like to add

2 anything on that Ill give you two

3 opportunities

4 MS ALEXANDER No I appreciate that but

5 no thank you

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Counsel

7 MR SHINE I would just add Chair that

8 youve seen today and youve seen previously that

9 the Appeal Commission is certainly capable of

10 identifying the issues in bullet form under the

11 larger titles of educational plan the

12 organizational plan and then the third being the

13 budgetary issues under the business plan

14 Now theres nothing in the statute that

15 specifically requires that we do 14 issues

16 Theres 14 issues in this case Theres seven in

17 the first I believe three in the second and five

18 in the last

19 We had a one-page denial letter which I

20 respectfully disagree with the School Districts

21 attorney that this meets the letter and intent of

22 the statute The statutes references a denial

23 letter that specifically articulates in writing

24 the specific reasons

25 Well it incorporates by reference the

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1 specific reasons and then you must go back into

2 other documents to find the specific reasons And

3 their evaluation document and their document that

4 they prepared as a summary for the Board in

5 certain cases is contradictory So its a

6 difficult challenge for us to number one put

7 together the issue sheet but number two I think

8 youve seen already your initial instructions were

9 denial of any one of these reasons within any of

10 these bullets under the educational plan

11 constitutes good cause Then one of the members

12 in the last vote further clarified that issue

13 Im certain that the members of the Commission

14 understand that

15 Im certainly not seeing any prejudice to

16 either of the parties in the format that its

17 currently in And I think there is -- and most

18 importantly as youve seen in the prior cases

19 many of these issues are interrelated and the

20 explanation and the proof of whether or not they

21 met any one of the seven standards for the

22 educational plan its in the same area of the

23 application There is crossover between some of

24 the information that prove or disproves whether or

25 not theyve met that standard

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1 So I believe the way we have proposed it I

2 think is certainly consistent with the statutory

3 construct and theres no rule or statute that

4 would require us to do anything different

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counsel

6 I would agree with that I think the way

7 this Commission has historically operated -- I

8 mean we are certainly going to look at all of the

9 issues that currently -shy

10 MS HITCHCOCK Can you speak up

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes Jackie

12 Thank you very much counsel Given the way

13 that this Commission operates I dont see an

14 issue with continuing to operate the way we

15 usually do so your motion is denied So we will

16 continue with the way that we usually operate and

17 go through the various issues

18 Jackie if you would pass out the motion

19 sheets and then we can get started

20 All right We are going to get started So

21 again well give the school 15 minutes to present

22 your case and then well give the district the

23 same amount of time Again certainly being

24 succinct is appreciated

25 So with that proceed

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1 MS ALEXANDER I appreciate it Thank you

2 My name is Stephanie Alexander Im from the law

3 firm of Tripp Scott Im here today to represent

4 Stephen Biko Charter School

5 And with me to my right is Dr Greg Myers

6 Hes the principal and founder of the school and

7 also Joe Whitaker who is on the Board and he is

8 with the Jacksonville Economic Development

9 Council And if I could remember his long title

10 I would tell you what it is but Im sure that he

11 can do that

12 We all know what the law is in terms of the

13 standards so Im going to not really get into that

14 now And we also -- this isnt our first rodeo

15 Its getting late in the afternoon so Im not

16 going to go over it issue by issue in my opening

17 statement here Were going to do that as the

18 issues come up

19 But I wanted you all to understand the nature

20 of this charter school how it came about what

21 the status is of it today because I think thats

22 really important From our perspective the

23 overarching point is we think that -- and we think

24 that we will prove that the application should

25 have been granted And in fact it mirrors an

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1 application that Jacksonville -- Im sorry -- the

2 Duval County School Board actually approved the

3 year before So our opinion is that it should

4 have been sufficient it was sufficient the year

5 before and there really arent differences that

6 would account for the differences in treatment

7 But the more important point and which is

8 why I want you to understand how the charter

9 school got started where it is now and the

10 genesis of it is because I think that youll be

11 as impressed as I was to learn about the history

12 and what is going on now

13 And with that I would like to ask Dr Myers

14 to get up and give you a little five minutes about

15 where things are Thank you

16 DR MYERS Good afternoon everyone

17 Chairperson Board members Excuse me Im a

18 little tall

19 MS HITCHCOCK I think that we can probably

20 hear you Dr Myers you dont have to bend down

21 DR MYERS My name is Dr Myers Gregory

22 Myers educated at Duval County one of their

23 products with the school reared in Duval County

24 from elementary Originally from South America

25 came to the United States in 1968 immigrant

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1 parents West Indian mom Portuguese dad And it

2 was instilled to be the best in this world

3 I was a defiant kid had to be removed from

4 Duval County Public School System But it took a

5 principal that grabbed me and said that you are

6 the best and I believe in you And I went on and

7 graduated from high school received a football

8 scholarship went on to college graduated played

9 some professional football and returned back to

10 receive my masters degree my PhD in health

11 care administration

12 And I wanted to give something back to this

13 county that I represented and I saw a school that

14 was so vibrant and God touched me to say that

15 thats what I want you to do This is all about

16 this building Thats what this whole issue is

17 about Its about this great building the

18 oldest historical African-American high school in

19 the United States

20 They feel as though that Im going to take

21 their kids but this school is about every child

22 in Duval County Ive been granted the

23 opportunity by all the former mayors and the mayor

24 of Jacksonville to succeed in this because they

25 believe in me as an individual as an

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1 African-American to the community and one that

2 can put this together I would be blessed to have

3 a great partner of Joe Whitaker who has worked

4 with me diligently on this

5 The school is open now Weve opened as a

6 private school We had our first graduate this

7 December that went through all of the standards of

8 Duval County She came to us from a failing

9 school a failing school that was not progressing

10 But now she went from scoring a 14 on the ACT to a

11 19 That says that were doing something

12 We have up to 35 kids that are accelerating

13 using a curriculum called APEX curriculum which

14 is in their county They fostered the curriculum

15 Whats wrong with it Nothing

16 I know Im speaking but Im speaking from my

17 heart because this touches me Im one of theirs

18 educator and I have to be treated like this It

19 is wrong and thats how I feel because Im only

20 speaking from my heart And it hurts me today it

21 all hurts me All of this is for -- because this

22 is mirrored off an application that they approved

23 last year last year they approved this

24 application

25 So why should I have to be subject to what

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1 Im going through And it is wrong And Im only

2 speaking from my heart You cant throw me in the

3 garbage can speaking from my heart thats what

4 Im doing today

5 And Im just asking you to give me the

6 opportunity to show these individuals from my

7 county that I can be successful I am being

8 successful with these kids Im doing a great

9 job And former Mayor Delaney he inspired me to

10 do this because he said Greg you are passionate

11 Most individuals that open up charter schools open

12 them up for the wrong reasons they open them up

13 for funds I opening up because I love kids and I

14 want to change lives because Im tired of seeing

15 children go into the prison system and Im tired

16 of seeing children going wayward

17 The young lady that finished our school

18 shes now attending Virginia College received a

19 full scholarship Thats what this is all about

20 And if it could change my life imagine how it

21 could change other lives

22 So thats why it makes me upset it makes me

23 angry because Ive been going through this and

24 its all about this beautiful building Old

25 Stanton High School located right behind the new

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1 courthouse Thats what its all about All this

2 is is just a dog and pony show this is what its

3 about because they feel as though Im going to

4 take the kids from (inaudible) and Andrew Jackson

5 Thank you so much for listening to me and

6 Ill be responding to your questions

7 MS ALEXANDER As you can tell hes very

8 passionate about his school And he was in fact

9 urged by former Mayor Delaney to start the charter

10 school

11 And the building that hes showing and

12 referring to is actually right behind -- as he

13 said its right behind the brand new courthouse

14 And in fact the development authority which Joe

15 Whitaker will speak to has actually pledged funds

16 to refurbish the building And thats where the

17 charter school will be housed

18 And all of those plans are in place but in

19 fact because we dont have charter school

20 approval we cant go forward and get the funds to

21 rehab the school thats right behind the

22 courthouse in downtown Its part of the

23 revitalization district of downtown Jacksonville

24 What he forgot to stay was not only was he a

25 product of the education system in Jacksonville

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1 but he taught in the Duval County Schools for

2 many many years He was a football coach he was

3 a teacher he was an assistant principle he was a

4 principal in fact he ran three Drop In Academy

5 Schools in Duval before in fact deciding to open

6 up the new charter school at the urgence of former

7 Mayor John Delaney who is in fact on his Board

8 and as you all know is now the current President

9 of the University of North Florida So thats

10 really the backdrop of this

11 And Im going to turn it over to Joe

12 Whitaker who is on the Board and will give you a

13 little sense of whats going on with the building

14 so you get a sense of the whole background here

15 Thanks

16 MR WHITAKER Good afternoon My name is

17 Joe Whitaker and Im with the Mayors Office of

18 Economic Development for the City of Jacksonville

19 And I got intrigued by Mr Myers desire to open

20 up a charter school because I ran a loan program

21 for the City and I assisted him in another project

22 that he did to put something back into his

23 neighborhood So Ive watched him and Ive seen

24 his passion and his energy for getting things

25 done

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1 And one of the things that I admire about

2 Dr Myers is that he does what he says hes going

3 to do when he says hes going to do it And

4 thats fairly rare in my opinion

5 I would like to just clear up any other

6 misunderstandings The City of Jacksonville has

7 yet not pledged funds for his project until we

8 have a charter school designation so that we dont

9 waste a lot of time trying to raise money But

10 essentially the Old Stanton High School was built

11 in 1901 and it is now just a shell and it is

12 governed by a not-for-profit Board And we have

13 achieved the first step of the goal and that is

14 they have given us site control

15 So we do have the ability if were granted a

16 charter to be able to go out then and raise the

17 funds to be able to rehabilitate this building and

18 actually put upwards of 400 young students in

19 there in high school

20 And we dont have a high school in downtown

21 Jacksonville and we believe that this opportunity

22 to redevelop the Old Stanton building is a

23 worthwhile endeavor on behalf of our redevelopment

24 efforts and were anxious to do that

25 We have put together a Board that we believe

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1 has the fundraising capacity to be able to

2 generate enough private capital to get this kicked

3 off And the City of Jacksonville has an historic

4 loan fund that we have the ability to be able to

5 get some money from to finish the product And we

6 think its going to be a success

7 Downtown Jacksonville is going through its

8 own renaissance We have people moving downtown

9 and were bringing more retail downtown and our

10 Mayor is focused on rebuilding downtown So we

11 believe that we have an opportunity to be

12 successful

13 I chose to volunteer to be on Gregs Board

14 because I believe in him And we have been

15 working to get other prominent people in the

16 community on this Board so that we can make a

17 difference Thats what this is all about

18 As an economic development professional with

19 the City of Jacksonville for the last 30 years

20 Ive been involved in a lot of projects 156

21 projects since 2001 and weve generated private

22 capital investments of $14 million and weve

23 created 15000 jobs So the group that Im

24 working with we believe that this is achievable

25 But the first step is to get site control we

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1 have that Now the next step is we get the

2 charter then we have the ability to be able to

3 raise the funds you know to put this project

4 together Ill be happy to answer any questions

5 you may have

6 MS ALEXANDER Given that the school has

7 already opened and is successfully educating

8 students we believe that there wasnt good cause

9 in fact to deny the application and we will be

10 happy to answer any questions with respect to the

11 specific categories I just didnt want to go

12 through them twice given that its late in the

13 day So I just wanted to give you a background

14 thats where we are And we respectfully request

15 that you grant our appeal and thank you very

16 much

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

18 Representatives for the district

19 MR McDUFFIE Thank you members of the

20 Commission Again my name is Brian McDuffie

21 Im Executive Director for Policy and Compliance

22 with Duval County Public Schools

23 With me to my left is Ms Jackie Bowen

24 Executive Director for Academic Services

25 Ms Angela Heiney who is Coordinator of Financial

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1 Reporting We also have Karen Chastain who is

2 Chief Legal Officer for the district as well as

3 Shanita Roper and Anita Henry-Smith who are from

4 our charter schools office

5 The first thing that I want to touch upon is

6 the charter school climate in Duval County We

7 approved 13 out of 15 applications that went to

8 the Board during this last cycle We currently

9 have 21 charter schools operating in Duval County

10 And I think if every application or every

11 applicant that had good intentions had their

12 charter school approved there would be an

13 overwhelming number of charter schools It is not

14 necessarily about worthwhile intentions

15 And there has never been any question on our

16 part about the integrity of the people trying to

17 start this charter school none whatsoever They

18 appear to be good people with good intentions It

19 is not about that It is also not about

20 redeveloping downtown Jacksonville It is about

21 the children

22 And thats what we have been given the task

23 of doing as a sponsor to look and make sure that

24 when these applications come in that the children

25 are protected

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1 What Im going to do today is basically

2 provide the Commission with a slight overview with

3 respect to Issue 2 Ms Heiney will talk with

4 respect to Issue 3 And Ms Bowen will talk with

5 respect to Issue 1 just as an overview

6 So moving to Issue 2 governance the first

7 thing -- again keep within the time

8 constraints -- as a highlight the applicant is a

9 private school That in and on its face is a

10 reason for denial If you look at Florida

11 Statutes 100233(3)(b) a private school cannot be

12 a charter school

13 Moving on to management With respect to the

14 management section we were provided with

15 essentially a lot of vague information They

16 failed to give the management structure job

17 descriptions for teachers the administrative

18 positions They failed to give criteria as to how

19 they were going to select teachers And they also

20 failed to describe how they were going to monitor

21 teacher certification as well as how to fill

22 status

23 Based on these measures with respect to

24 Issue 2 under governance and management we feel

25 that the School Board had competent substantial

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1 evidence and good cause to deny the application

2 And next to speak will be Ms Jackie Bowen

3 MS BOWEN Good afternoon Im Jacqueline

4 Bowen the Academic Services Executive Director

5 I do appreciate the applicants passion for

6 students thats why Im here But I would also

7 like to reiterate as our counsel has said that I

8 am not a historical resident of Jacksonville And

9 as we review applications I have no knowledge of

10 many of the historical factors or the political

11 things that are behind it having only been in the

12 city for 12 years My goal and every analysis or

13 review of the complete instructional plan is that

14 it benefit children

15 So in reviewing the actual application there

16 were great deficiencies in the areas of the

17 guiding principles the targeted population was

18 very unclear the education program design the

19 curriculum plan the student performance

20 assessments evaluation the actual educational

21 supporting plan for the ESE population as well as

22 ELL students

23 So for example within this application

24 its supposed to provide any reader or reviewer a

25 very clear picture of what a student will need to

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1 do and what they will experience as they are

2 attending that institution meaning that I should

3 have an understanding of the applicant And the

4 applicant was real clear that he wanted to

5 provide the whole child and provide that

6 experience

7 But it didnt give me a clear understanding

8 or the reviewers upon my team about the

9 structure how the things that were identified

10 were truly going to support and guide teachers

11 decisions to make sure theyre meeting the

12 standards of the NGSS and the Common Core and

13 ultimately graduating

14 The application was indistinguishable between

15 the targeted population because at one point it

16 talked about at-risk students from a particular

17 5-mile geographic dynamics and then it said all

18 students no matter what according to the

19 standard of expectation

20 The applicant briefly described a pre-med

21 program a dual enrollment advanced placement

22 classes And the appeal reiterated the error by

23 describing instructional programs and learning

24 strategies but they failed to provide a clear

25 picture as to how you were going to take

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1 struggling students or any student to that

2 advanced and rigorous curriculum

3 And as we can say that the standard requires

4 the application to explain not only what the

5 school is going to teach but how they were going

6 to teach it I was continually searching which

7 Im not required to do throughout the entire

8 application to see how was this instruction going

9 to be -- what is that child going to experience on

10 a daily basis And it was very unclear

11 Statute 100233 also states that the charter

12 application must have a detailed curriculum plan

13 a curriculum plan not a curriculum resource a

14 plan for instruction that illustrates how those

15 students are going to be provided services to meet

16 those graduation requirements We are in the

17 business of graduating students

18 So the application also didnt provide a very

19 clear reading curriculum They referenced the

20 Just Read Florida Website which Im very happy

21 that they were there supporting but it is a

22 resource document it does not outline a

23 curriculum plan And unfortunately -- and Im

24 saying this in this building -- it really only

25 sports primary education When you get towards

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1 secondary the resources become very limited And

2 I know theyre working on that

3 So the statute requires that we deny the

4 application on the fact that the reading

5 curriculum plan was not sufficient at all

6 Another key issue that was concerning which

7 led to a good cause denial of the application was

8 that a risk of students not being prepared for the

9 FCAT Because they identified assessments which

10 Im very familiar with failed to have the

11 measuring tools that would guide teacher

12 instruction in being able to support deficiencies

13 or make accommodations or get those students ready

14 for that you know accelerated dual enrollment

15 advanced AP or pre-med curriculum

16 Im going to wrap it up because I know

17 everybody is ready to go When we talk about our

18 ELL students and we are doing a lot within our

19 districts to better support all students there

20 was really -- I struggled with finding out how the

21 students were going to enter our school And an

22 ELL student is just one designation because you

23 can have an ELL student that also has an ESE

24 designation and has some little deficiencies in

25 particular other areas

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1 There was no -- they failed to demonstrate

2 how they were going to make choices of selecting

3 the appropriate materials to meet the needs of all

4 students

5 To say we will select resources but there

6 was no clear indication of how those decisions

7 would be made The assessments didnt provide

8 that detailed information to guide that choice so

9 upon that there was no reason but to have a good

10 cause for denial

11 MS HEINEY Good afternoon My name is

12 Angela Heiney H-e-i-n-e-y and I reviewed the

13 business plan for the applicant As an overview

14 the entire business plan did not meet the standard

15 with the exception of the transportation which

16 only partially met the standard

17 There were quite a few reasons that we found

18 for this The biggest -- there were statutory

19 failures all over the place 100233(6)(a)5

20 states that there has to be an annual financial

21 plan based on projected revenues and expenditures

22 What we found is that the revenues and

23 expenditures provided were unsubstantiated

24 unsupported and there was missing money all over

25 the place For example on Page 107 the

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1 applicant states theyre going to take out

2 $500000 in loans to fund their startup however

3 if you look at their five-year business plan

4 there is no repayment for those loans And they

5 provided absolutely no correspondence from any

6 lending institution that says theyre willing to

7 give half a million dollars and not expect a penny

8 back for over five years In this current

9 economic climate that rarely if ever happens

10 Ive never seen it

11 The application and the denial or the

12 response to the denial that was filed -- the

13 notice of appeal -- there were several points that

14 were made in our denial however they never even

15 discussed those

16 For example the application specifically

17 states that they plan on contracting out HR and

18 accounting services however they dont know how

19 much it is so they didnt even include that in

20 their budget For some of our schools that is

21 thousands and thousands of dollars a year just

22 missing

23 Theres inconsistencies Mr Whitaker just

24 stated that the City of Jacksonville has not

25 promised the money However Page 104 states that

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1 they have a verbal commitment There is no

2 evidence of any commitment no letters from former

3 Mayor Delaney no letters from current Mayor

4 Browns office anybody even suggesting that they

5 know who this school is and that theyre willing

6 to support it

7 A second statutory failing occurs again in

8 (6)(a)5 where it states that the application must

9 have a description of controls that safeguard

10 financing

11 During the general help session the

12 applicants were told they must give detailed

13 procedures on certain areas Why Because these

14 are the areas that consistently have fraud

15 errors thefts mistakes We dont like to

16 believe that will happen at schools but frankly

17 bad things do happen

18 They were told you must have accounts

19 payables accounts receivables cash management

20 payroll those areas Why This is where weve

21 seen problems happen There was nothing There

22 was some general policy given on Pages 113 and 14

23 And they state on Page 113 there will be

24 implementation of many internal financial

25 controls however that is not a description of

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1 controls which is what is mandated by the

2 statute

3 Another failing occurs on Statute 21839

4 This statute mandates the use of an independent

5 certified public account for performing annual

6 financial reporting so the audited financial

7 statements which are required

8 In Attachment 7 it states that the same

9 person providing accounting services will also

10 perform the auditing services According to the

11 American Institute of CPAs this is actually a

12 violation of independence and an ethics violation

13 itself So anybody who is willing to do both is

14 not by statute an independent auditor And they

15 have stated in their application thats what

16 theyre going to do

17 When you see one statutory violation that is

18 certainly competent and substantial evidence for

19 denial When you see at least three just in one

20 section now were getting overwhelming grounds

21 for denial

22 But we also saw areas in the facilities where

23 they simply state that they will meet statute

24 Saying youre going to meet statute is not the

25 same as explaining what youre going to do

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1 Theyre stating in their financials that theyre

2 going to have $3 million worth of renovations

3 What on earth are you going to do for $3 million

4 Mr Whitaker stated that the building is just

5 a shell However the application states that it

6 is currently being in use by a daycare for the

7 Urban League So whats going on Theres no

8 consistency between whats being said whats

9 being done in the application

10 In that stance we do not make assumptions

11 We must go with what is written So any verbal

12 statements we cant justify that because all we

13 can hold the applicant to is what has been written

14 in that document

15 We have a problem with food service They

16 state that theyre not going to use NSLP and

17 theyre going to contract a vendor which is

18 perfectly acceptable except their target

19 population is going to be children that are at

20 risk Specifically this is a very high population

21 of children who will qualify for free and reduced

22 lunch What about the kids that cant pay for

23 their food what are they going to do all day in

24 class We cant starve children thats wrong

25 Theres no money in the budget for -shy

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

2 MS HEINEY Im sorry

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

4 MS HEINEY Theres no money in the budget

5 for food so theres no money theres no plan

6 And this is an area that has direct effect on

7 health and well-being of the children

8 The action plan that they gave is completely

9 unrealistic and does not meet up against their

10 academic standards For example they state that

11 theyre going to use Achieve 3000 Achieve 3000

12 is a difficult product to use It does require

13 training

14 And the startup budget and the statement of

15 cash flow is there is no money whatsoever for

16 teacher training So are these teachers supposed

17 to walk in on their first day knowing how to use

18 it The action plan says theres going to be

19 training but theres no money for it so how are

20 you going do it As I said theres quite a bit

21 of reasons And if you have any questions we

22 would be more than happy to respond

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay This takes us to

24 Issue 1 whether the applicant failed to comply

25 with the educational plan regarding guiding

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1 principles target population educational program

2 design curriculum plan student performance

3 assessment and evaluation exceptional students

4 and English language learners

5 So the school if you want to have a couple

6 of minutes to speak directly to the educational

7 plan and then well give the district the same

8 amount of time

9 MS ALEXANDER Sure With respect to the

10 mission statement we believe that the denial was

11 not supported by competent substantial evidence in

12 any way For example the School Board alleges

13 that we didnt provide an adequate mission

14 statement or describe how the school utilizes

15 guiding principles

16 As you can kind of get the sense from hearing

17 Dr Myers hes got a pretty sophisticated sense

18 of mission And with respect to the mission

19 statement the application specifically says on

20 Page 4 The mission statement of the charter high

21 school is to provide an exemplary personalized

22 learning program in a supportive resource rich

23 contemporary learning environment Stephen Biko

24 Charter High School is dedicated to excellence and

25 committed to nurturing passionate lifelong

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1 learners

2 It also says that The school will meet the

3 high standards of student achievement by

4 supporting positive academic outcomes for students

5 by addressing the academic social economical -shy

6 Im sorry -- emotional and behavioral needs of

7 enrolled students And it says that High

8 standards will be evident which will offer parents

9 and guardians of students currently attending the

10 elementary and charter schools of Duval County the

11 flexibility to choose the school

12 So our view is that if you actually look at

13 the application there is a specific mission its

14 very clear and in fact weve met the standard

15 Just as an aside there was a reference to a

16 private school cant be a charter school

17 Dr Myers started the private school on donations

18 alone in the interim because he wanted to try to

19 start offering education to the average students

20 as quickly as possible He consulted with the DOE

21 and was told that in fact he could open up the

22 school and that if the charter is granted he

23 could transition from the private school into the

24 charter model so there isnt any prohibition

25 against how hes doing it

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1 But our view is if you look at the

2 application there is a clear mission its

3 outlined there and it did meet the standard So

4 thank you

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

6 District

7 DR MYERS Can I

8 CHAIRMAN CHU You have about 30 seconds

9 DR MYERS Thank you I contacted the

10 Department of Education and they expressed to me

11 that I have to close the school and once I close

12 the school every child has to apply So that was

13 done prior to opening up the private school

14 As they stated theres nowhere in that

15 application where it states (inaudible) So all

16 of these things are preposterous in what theyre

17 saying and its just things that theyre trying

18 to elaborate to make the application look bad

19 As I expressed to you Board members this

20 application was approved similar last year It

21 was the exact application So everything that

22 shes coming up with and all three of them does

23 not make sense it does not It does not weigh

24 this application God knows it does not And

25 they cannot give you sufficient reasons why

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1 Thats why they come in with all of these

2 fictitious false allegations against this

3 application Thats all theyre doing They

4 approved this application last year they did

5 And thats all Im asking for

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right District

7 MR McDUFFIE Just briefly and I will turn

8 the mic over to Ms Bowen

9 This is the second time youve heard that

10 there was a mirror application from last year I

11 would like to ask the Commission to go to Page 39

12 of the application There is a specific provision

13 in the application which says if the school

14 intends to replicate an existing school design

15 you are supposed to notify the district under E

16 and F in that section

17 In their application that section is blank

18 okay So they are replicating an existing school

19 design they did not notify us of that in the

20 application

21 And secondly that also takes away the

22 innovative factor of the school If theyre

23 replicating an existing school what is innovative

24 about their charter school

25 Just briefly again with respect to that

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1 private school the application is in the name of

2 Stephen Biko Private Charter School so it is a

3 private school that is making the application

4 MS BOWEN I would just like to add that if

5 there was an application that was approved last

6 year within the past five years we would be glad

7 to go back and look if theres a name thats

8 submitted for us to do reference But when we

9 looked through all of our prior applications we

10 could find no areas where there was similar an

11 exact model of an approved application that had

12 already been approved by the district

13 But to respond to point one as far as the

14 guiding principle section the mission statement

15 was general it was vague and it did not describe

16 meaningful or measurable priority It

17 inefficiently defines the values of the school and

18 was inconsistent with the appellants subsequent

19 educational program plan The question of the

20 guidance embedded within question one clearly says

21 that it should explain what the school intends to

22 do for whom and to what degree And I failed to

23 be able to fully answer all of those questions by

24 reading the statement

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Were going to have a QampA

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1 session so what were going to do now is let me

2 ask the Commission members do you have any

3 questions

4 MS BRUBAKER I would like to hear how

5 you -shy

6 DR MYERS Me

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes Dr Myers How you plan

8 on taking those low performing students to be able

9 to do dual enrollment or AP classes

10 DR MYERS Well first of all as those

11 students arrive in the school various testing

12 will be done on those students TABE testing also

13 WRAT4 testing and various things We would look

14 at the matrix of where the kid came from

15 We have a child now that came to us Georgia

16 from one of the schools in Georgia where he was

17 functioning at a lower level The WRAT4 which is

18 designed to motivate the child and test the child

19 TABE test then we get a matrix from that and we

20 set a curriculum for -- excuse me -- we set the

21 curriculum for the child give the child

22 appropriate courses that the child has already

23 taken or retake again

24 So we move the child in small groups which

25 would be one-on-one learning or it could be group

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1 learning activities The chairs in the classroom

2 are set up and a table where one to one and one to

3 one where the child can model the other child and

4 move forward

5 The APEX curriculum which is used in Duval

6 County Public Schools they just finished using

7 the APEX curriculum in one of their failing

8 schools which moved -- increased the grade two

9 grades -- I think one or two grades at Andrew

10 Jackson High School They have the APEX They

11 have several schools in Duval County thats using

12 the APEX curriculum So its a Florida curriculum

13 that is being used

14 As they expressed the application -- when I

15 looked at the application since I was using the

16 APEX curriculum I said okay why not modify this

17 and put it back into context where its being

18 used So what were doing is we just wrote the

19 application in regards to what they wanted They

20 wanted APEX We put the APEX in there Its a

21 proven fact that its successful in their public

22 schools

23 MS ALEXANDER Can you answer her questions

24 I think which is how you are going to move the low

25 learners up to eventually taking the AP test

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1 DR MYERS Right Im sorry I know I only

2 have a few more minutes or a few seconds But

3 eventually as they progress in each area in math

4 science social studies then we test again So

5 we test at the beginning test at the end

6 And as they -- at the midterm level it tells

7 us whether or not theyre going to be remediated

8 in the course or move forward As they move

9 forward we get the curriculum more rigorous again

10 for them and the next course which is in line so

11 basically one on one and group learning is

12 efficient for them Theyre going to have to take

13 the same courses but if theyre testing at lower

14 levels thats where the individualized

15 instruction will help them

16 Did I answer it

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

18 respond to that

19 MR McDUFFIE Ms Bowen would like to

20 respond But I just want to make it also clear

21 that that -- what was just explained verbally is

22 not in the application

23 MS BOWEN The APEX curriculum is about a

24 curriculum for a set population of students as

25 well as the TABE Assessment they test and measure

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1 students basic skills The expectation under the

2 Common Core the FCAT 20 far exceeds that

3 curriculum And yes we have used it with some

4 of our most lowest performing students and Andrew

5 Jackson did make some gains but they still have

6 19 percent of their students are reading

7 proficiently

8 So my concern is with that curriculum I know

9 that there is something that you needed to have a

10 better indication that was going to provide the

11 teacher with a clear pathway of how to meet those

12 gaps By giving me an assessment thats only

13 measuring my minimum skills it does not

14 demonstrate the expectation of the Lexile level

15 thats required for a college entrance And on

16 Page 39 of his application it clearly states for

17 students who are interested in pre-med coursework

18 The expectation for reading cannot be

19 provided with the diagnosis information that you

20 get with a TABE Assessment or an APEX curriculum

21 Page 10 -- Im sorry I said Page 39 its stuck

22 in my head for some reason -- but on Page 10 it

23 talks about pre-med students and the other

24 innovative -- because thats what hes saying

25 its one of the innovative factors of this

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1 program

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you Are there other

3 questions from the Commission members

4 MS BRADLEY I have a question

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Verdya

6 MS BRADLEY My question is for the school

7 the applicant Is this a solely online program

8 DR MYERS No maam Its basically online

9 and direct instruction

10 MS BRADLEY Do you discuss direct

11 instruction in here

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY The reason that I ask that

14 question is the questions in the application asks

15 specifically for a description of the curriculum

16 a description of the reading program And in your

17 responses your responses pretty much tie back to

18 the APEX curriculum so it appears that it is

19 solely reliant on And then all of the

20 documentation that you gave was from the APEX

21 program So I was just wondering is it just

22 solely online

23 DR MYERS The majority of it but theres a

24 piece where the direct instruction is in place

25 with the child because the children are culled

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1 out for the particular course learning for the

2 subject area that theyre doing The regular

3 curriculum comes in -- the APEX Lexile learning

4 comes in Everything is designed where its

5 implemented on the laptop for the child If the

6 child needs direct instruction the child is

7 culled out into an environment where he or she

8 receives the one-on-one instruction

9 MS BRADLEY Did you discuss that in here

10 DR MYERS Im pretty sure I did

11 MS ALEXANDER What page are you looking at

12 for these

13 MS BRADLEY Well it kind of goes back and

14 forth It starts on Page 16 where it starts

15 talking about the educational program and then it

16 gives me probably about 20 30 pages on APEX and

17 then it goes into the reading curriculum But Im

18 not seeing anywhere where theres any supplement

19 to that

20 Because even the question on Page 16 was

21 Describe the proposed reading or educational

22 program it sort of goes through elements of the

23 APEX program Then on Page 68 it says Describe

24 the reading curriculum

25 DR MYERS Yes maam If you look at

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1 the -shy

2 MS HITCHCOCK Stand up please

3 DR MYERS Im sorry

4 CHAIRMAN CHU If you could come to the mic

5 that would be very helpful because our court

6 reporter is trying to get it all down

7 DR MYERS Im sorry The bullet there

8 says Direct instruction individual and small

9 group instruction led by highly-qualified

10 teachers

11 MS ESPOSITO Say the page

12 MS BRADLEY Thats on Page 16 But its

13 just part of the -- its sort of an isolated

14 bullet but it doesnt explain it any further than

15 that You know it doesnt tell me that there is

16 going to be a pull-out portion

17 DR MYERS Right But as I stated I just

18 put a little piece in there because thats just a

19 little piece of the curriculum and thats why I

20 just mentioned a little piece of it there The

21 majority of it is an online based curriculum

22 MS HODGENS I have a question for the

23 school

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

25 MS HODGENS I am confused on the targeted

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1 population Im trying to get it on the motion

2 sheet so Im going to go to targeted population

3 first And I am a little confused on it because I

4 can read what you say on Page 12 And on Page 12

5 you talk about being open to all students and

6 then you talk about low-performing students and

7 then you go back to all students

8 And then when I go to Page 41 the curriculum

9 design you talk about students needing credit

10 recovery And then I continue on and I see AP

11 courses honor courses And again I dont want

12 to allude that I dont believe that kids can do

13 those courses but I want to understand what

14 population youre really looking at

15 DR MYERS Were looking at all students

16 within that demographic And within the

17 demographics it is a lower level You have lower

18 level one level two basically they are coming

19 from the downtown sector area within that 5-mile

20 radius area of the downtown

21 So when I say all students because a

22 charter school cannot deny a student from applying

23 or coming in all students are accepted if they

24 can meet transportation needs to come to school

25 So as I expressed to you thats what

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1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

Page 6: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

6

1 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the school like to add

2 anything on that Ill give you two

3 opportunities

4 MS ALEXANDER No I appreciate that but

5 no thank you

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Counsel

7 MR SHINE I would just add Chair that

8 youve seen today and youve seen previously that

9 the Appeal Commission is certainly capable of

10 identifying the issues in bullet form under the

11 larger titles of educational plan the

12 organizational plan and then the third being the

13 budgetary issues under the business plan

14 Now theres nothing in the statute that

15 specifically requires that we do 14 issues

16 Theres 14 issues in this case Theres seven in

17 the first I believe three in the second and five

18 in the last

19 We had a one-page denial letter which I

20 respectfully disagree with the School Districts

21 attorney that this meets the letter and intent of

22 the statute The statutes references a denial

23 letter that specifically articulates in writing

24 the specific reasons

25 Well it incorporates by reference the

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1 specific reasons and then you must go back into

2 other documents to find the specific reasons And

3 their evaluation document and their document that

4 they prepared as a summary for the Board in

5 certain cases is contradictory So its a

6 difficult challenge for us to number one put

7 together the issue sheet but number two I think

8 youve seen already your initial instructions were

9 denial of any one of these reasons within any of

10 these bullets under the educational plan

11 constitutes good cause Then one of the members

12 in the last vote further clarified that issue

13 Im certain that the members of the Commission

14 understand that

15 Im certainly not seeing any prejudice to

16 either of the parties in the format that its

17 currently in And I think there is -- and most

18 importantly as youve seen in the prior cases

19 many of these issues are interrelated and the

20 explanation and the proof of whether or not they

21 met any one of the seven standards for the

22 educational plan its in the same area of the

23 application There is crossover between some of

24 the information that prove or disproves whether or

25 not theyve met that standard

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1 So I believe the way we have proposed it I

2 think is certainly consistent with the statutory

3 construct and theres no rule or statute that

4 would require us to do anything different

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counsel

6 I would agree with that I think the way

7 this Commission has historically operated -- I

8 mean we are certainly going to look at all of the

9 issues that currently -shy

10 MS HITCHCOCK Can you speak up

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes Jackie

12 Thank you very much counsel Given the way

13 that this Commission operates I dont see an

14 issue with continuing to operate the way we

15 usually do so your motion is denied So we will

16 continue with the way that we usually operate and

17 go through the various issues

18 Jackie if you would pass out the motion

19 sheets and then we can get started

20 All right We are going to get started So

21 again well give the school 15 minutes to present

22 your case and then well give the district the

23 same amount of time Again certainly being

24 succinct is appreciated

25 So with that proceed

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1 MS ALEXANDER I appreciate it Thank you

2 My name is Stephanie Alexander Im from the law

3 firm of Tripp Scott Im here today to represent

4 Stephen Biko Charter School

5 And with me to my right is Dr Greg Myers

6 Hes the principal and founder of the school and

7 also Joe Whitaker who is on the Board and he is

8 with the Jacksonville Economic Development

9 Council And if I could remember his long title

10 I would tell you what it is but Im sure that he

11 can do that

12 We all know what the law is in terms of the

13 standards so Im going to not really get into that

14 now And we also -- this isnt our first rodeo

15 Its getting late in the afternoon so Im not

16 going to go over it issue by issue in my opening

17 statement here Were going to do that as the

18 issues come up

19 But I wanted you all to understand the nature

20 of this charter school how it came about what

21 the status is of it today because I think thats

22 really important From our perspective the

23 overarching point is we think that -- and we think

24 that we will prove that the application should

25 have been granted And in fact it mirrors an

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1 application that Jacksonville -- Im sorry -- the

2 Duval County School Board actually approved the

3 year before So our opinion is that it should

4 have been sufficient it was sufficient the year

5 before and there really arent differences that

6 would account for the differences in treatment

7 But the more important point and which is

8 why I want you to understand how the charter

9 school got started where it is now and the

10 genesis of it is because I think that youll be

11 as impressed as I was to learn about the history

12 and what is going on now

13 And with that I would like to ask Dr Myers

14 to get up and give you a little five minutes about

15 where things are Thank you

16 DR MYERS Good afternoon everyone

17 Chairperson Board members Excuse me Im a

18 little tall

19 MS HITCHCOCK I think that we can probably

20 hear you Dr Myers you dont have to bend down

21 DR MYERS My name is Dr Myers Gregory

22 Myers educated at Duval County one of their

23 products with the school reared in Duval County

24 from elementary Originally from South America

25 came to the United States in 1968 immigrant

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1 parents West Indian mom Portuguese dad And it

2 was instilled to be the best in this world

3 I was a defiant kid had to be removed from

4 Duval County Public School System But it took a

5 principal that grabbed me and said that you are

6 the best and I believe in you And I went on and

7 graduated from high school received a football

8 scholarship went on to college graduated played

9 some professional football and returned back to

10 receive my masters degree my PhD in health

11 care administration

12 And I wanted to give something back to this

13 county that I represented and I saw a school that

14 was so vibrant and God touched me to say that

15 thats what I want you to do This is all about

16 this building Thats what this whole issue is

17 about Its about this great building the

18 oldest historical African-American high school in

19 the United States

20 They feel as though that Im going to take

21 their kids but this school is about every child

22 in Duval County Ive been granted the

23 opportunity by all the former mayors and the mayor

24 of Jacksonville to succeed in this because they

25 believe in me as an individual as an

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1 African-American to the community and one that

2 can put this together I would be blessed to have

3 a great partner of Joe Whitaker who has worked

4 with me diligently on this

5 The school is open now Weve opened as a

6 private school We had our first graduate this

7 December that went through all of the standards of

8 Duval County She came to us from a failing

9 school a failing school that was not progressing

10 But now she went from scoring a 14 on the ACT to a

11 19 That says that were doing something

12 We have up to 35 kids that are accelerating

13 using a curriculum called APEX curriculum which

14 is in their county They fostered the curriculum

15 Whats wrong with it Nothing

16 I know Im speaking but Im speaking from my

17 heart because this touches me Im one of theirs

18 educator and I have to be treated like this It

19 is wrong and thats how I feel because Im only

20 speaking from my heart And it hurts me today it

21 all hurts me All of this is for -- because this

22 is mirrored off an application that they approved

23 last year last year they approved this

24 application

25 So why should I have to be subject to what

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1 Im going through And it is wrong And Im only

2 speaking from my heart You cant throw me in the

3 garbage can speaking from my heart thats what

4 Im doing today

5 And Im just asking you to give me the

6 opportunity to show these individuals from my

7 county that I can be successful I am being

8 successful with these kids Im doing a great

9 job And former Mayor Delaney he inspired me to

10 do this because he said Greg you are passionate

11 Most individuals that open up charter schools open

12 them up for the wrong reasons they open them up

13 for funds I opening up because I love kids and I

14 want to change lives because Im tired of seeing

15 children go into the prison system and Im tired

16 of seeing children going wayward

17 The young lady that finished our school

18 shes now attending Virginia College received a

19 full scholarship Thats what this is all about

20 And if it could change my life imagine how it

21 could change other lives

22 So thats why it makes me upset it makes me

23 angry because Ive been going through this and

24 its all about this beautiful building Old

25 Stanton High School located right behind the new

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1 courthouse Thats what its all about All this

2 is is just a dog and pony show this is what its

3 about because they feel as though Im going to

4 take the kids from (inaudible) and Andrew Jackson

5 Thank you so much for listening to me and

6 Ill be responding to your questions

7 MS ALEXANDER As you can tell hes very

8 passionate about his school And he was in fact

9 urged by former Mayor Delaney to start the charter

10 school

11 And the building that hes showing and

12 referring to is actually right behind -- as he

13 said its right behind the brand new courthouse

14 And in fact the development authority which Joe

15 Whitaker will speak to has actually pledged funds

16 to refurbish the building And thats where the

17 charter school will be housed

18 And all of those plans are in place but in

19 fact because we dont have charter school

20 approval we cant go forward and get the funds to

21 rehab the school thats right behind the

22 courthouse in downtown Its part of the

23 revitalization district of downtown Jacksonville

24 What he forgot to stay was not only was he a

25 product of the education system in Jacksonville

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1 but he taught in the Duval County Schools for

2 many many years He was a football coach he was

3 a teacher he was an assistant principle he was a

4 principal in fact he ran three Drop In Academy

5 Schools in Duval before in fact deciding to open

6 up the new charter school at the urgence of former

7 Mayor John Delaney who is in fact on his Board

8 and as you all know is now the current President

9 of the University of North Florida So thats

10 really the backdrop of this

11 And Im going to turn it over to Joe

12 Whitaker who is on the Board and will give you a

13 little sense of whats going on with the building

14 so you get a sense of the whole background here

15 Thanks

16 MR WHITAKER Good afternoon My name is

17 Joe Whitaker and Im with the Mayors Office of

18 Economic Development for the City of Jacksonville

19 And I got intrigued by Mr Myers desire to open

20 up a charter school because I ran a loan program

21 for the City and I assisted him in another project

22 that he did to put something back into his

23 neighborhood So Ive watched him and Ive seen

24 his passion and his energy for getting things

25 done

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1 And one of the things that I admire about

2 Dr Myers is that he does what he says hes going

3 to do when he says hes going to do it And

4 thats fairly rare in my opinion

5 I would like to just clear up any other

6 misunderstandings The City of Jacksonville has

7 yet not pledged funds for his project until we

8 have a charter school designation so that we dont

9 waste a lot of time trying to raise money But

10 essentially the Old Stanton High School was built

11 in 1901 and it is now just a shell and it is

12 governed by a not-for-profit Board And we have

13 achieved the first step of the goal and that is

14 they have given us site control

15 So we do have the ability if were granted a

16 charter to be able to go out then and raise the

17 funds to be able to rehabilitate this building and

18 actually put upwards of 400 young students in

19 there in high school

20 And we dont have a high school in downtown

21 Jacksonville and we believe that this opportunity

22 to redevelop the Old Stanton building is a

23 worthwhile endeavor on behalf of our redevelopment

24 efforts and were anxious to do that

25 We have put together a Board that we believe

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1 has the fundraising capacity to be able to

2 generate enough private capital to get this kicked

3 off And the City of Jacksonville has an historic

4 loan fund that we have the ability to be able to

5 get some money from to finish the product And we

6 think its going to be a success

7 Downtown Jacksonville is going through its

8 own renaissance We have people moving downtown

9 and were bringing more retail downtown and our

10 Mayor is focused on rebuilding downtown So we

11 believe that we have an opportunity to be

12 successful

13 I chose to volunteer to be on Gregs Board

14 because I believe in him And we have been

15 working to get other prominent people in the

16 community on this Board so that we can make a

17 difference Thats what this is all about

18 As an economic development professional with

19 the City of Jacksonville for the last 30 years

20 Ive been involved in a lot of projects 156

21 projects since 2001 and weve generated private

22 capital investments of $14 million and weve

23 created 15000 jobs So the group that Im

24 working with we believe that this is achievable

25 But the first step is to get site control we

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1 have that Now the next step is we get the

2 charter then we have the ability to be able to

3 raise the funds you know to put this project

4 together Ill be happy to answer any questions

5 you may have

6 MS ALEXANDER Given that the school has

7 already opened and is successfully educating

8 students we believe that there wasnt good cause

9 in fact to deny the application and we will be

10 happy to answer any questions with respect to the

11 specific categories I just didnt want to go

12 through them twice given that its late in the

13 day So I just wanted to give you a background

14 thats where we are And we respectfully request

15 that you grant our appeal and thank you very

16 much

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

18 Representatives for the district

19 MR McDUFFIE Thank you members of the

20 Commission Again my name is Brian McDuffie

21 Im Executive Director for Policy and Compliance

22 with Duval County Public Schools

23 With me to my left is Ms Jackie Bowen

24 Executive Director for Academic Services

25 Ms Angela Heiney who is Coordinator of Financial

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1 Reporting We also have Karen Chastain who is

2 Chief Legal Officer for the district as well as

3 Shanita Roper and Anita Henry-Smith who are from

4 our charter schools office

5 The first thing that I want to touch upon is

6 the charter school climate in Duval County We

7 approved 13 out of 15 applications that went to

8 the Board during this last cycle We currently

9 have 21 charter schools operating in Duval County

10 And I think if every application or every

11 applicant that had good intentions had their

12 charter school approved there would be an

13 overwhelming number of charter schools It is not

14 necessarily about worthwhile intentions

15 And there has never been any question on our

16 part about the integrity of the people trying to

17 start this charter school none whatsoever They

18 appear to be good people with good intentions It

19 is not about that It is also not about

20 redeveloping downtown Jacksonville It is about

21 the children

22 And thats what we have been given the task

23 of doing as a sponsor to look and make sure that

24 when these applications come in that the children

25 are protected

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1 What Im going to do today is basically

2 provide the Commission with a slight overview with

3 respect to Issue 2 Ms Heiney will talk with

4 respect to Issue 3 And Ms Bowen will talk with

5 respect to Issue 1 just as an overview

6 So moving to Issue 2 governance the first

7 thing -- again keep within the time

8 constraints -- as a highlight the applicant is a

9 private school That in and on its face is a

10 reason for denial If you look at Florida

11 Statutes 100233(3)(b) a private school cannot be

12 a charter school

13 Moving on to management With respect to the

14 management section we were provided with

15 essentially a lot of vague information They

16 failed to give the management structure job

17 descriptions for teachers the administrative

18 positions They failed to give criteria as to how

19 they were going to select teachers And they also

20 failed to describe how they were going to monitor

21 teacher certification as well as how to fill

22 status

23 Based on these measures with respect to

24 Issue 2 under governance and management we feel

25 that the School Board had competent substantial

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1 evidence and good cause to deny the application

2 And next to speak will be Ms Jackie Bowen

3 MS BOWEN Good afternoon Im Jacqueline

4 Bowen the Academic Services Executive Director

5 I do appreciate the applicants passion for

6 students thats why Im here But I would also

7 like to reiterate as our counsel has said that I

8 am not a historical resident of Jacksonville And

9 as we review applications I have no knowledge of

10 many of the historical factors or the political

11 things that are behind it having only been in the

12 city for 12 years My goal and every analysis or

13 review of the complete instructional plan is that

14 it benefit children

15 So in reviewing the actual application there

16 were great deficiencies in the areas of the

17 guiding principles the targeted population was

18 very unclear the education program design the

19 curriculum plan the student performance

20 assessments evaluation the actual educational

21 supporting plan for the ESE population as well as

22 ELL students

23 So for example within this application

24 its supposed to provide any reader or reviewer a

25 very clear picture of what a student will need to

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1 do and what they will experience as they are

2 attending that institution meaning that I should

3 have an understanding of the applicant And the

4 applicant was real clear that he wanted to

5 provide the whole child and provide that

6 experience

7 But it didnt give me a clear understanding

8 or the reviewers upon my team about the

9 structure how the things that were identified

10 were truly going to support and guide teachers

11 decisions to make sure theyre meeting the

12 standards of the NGSS and the Common Core and

13 ultimately graduating

14 The application was indistinguishable between

15 the targeted population because at one point it

16 talked about at-risk students from a particular

17 5-mile geographic dynamics and then it said all

18 students no matter what according to the

19 standard of expectation

20 The applicant briefly described a pre-med

21 program a dual enrollment advanced placement

22 classes And the appeal reiterated the error by

23 describing instructional programs and learning

24 strategies but they failed to provide a clear

25 picture as to how you were going to take

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1 struggling students or any student to that

2 advanced and rigorous curriculum

3 And as we can say that the standard requires

4 the application to explain not only what the

5 school is going to teach but how they were going

6 to teach it I was continually searching which

7 Im not required to do throughout the entire

8 application to see how was this instruction going

9 to be -- what is that child going to experience on

10 a daily basis And it was very unclear

11 Statute 100233 also states that the charter

12 application must have a detailed curriculum plan

13 a curriculum plan not a curriculum resource a

14 plan for instruction that illustrates how those

15 students are going to be provided services to meet

16 those graduation requirements We are in the

17 business of graduating students

18 So the application also didnt provide a very

19 clear reading curriculum They referenced the

20 Just Read Florida Website which Im very happy

21 that they were there supporting but it is a

22 resource document it does not outline a

23 curriculum plan And unfortunately -- and Im

24 saying this in this building -- it really only

25 sports primary education When you get towards

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1 secondary the resources become very limited And

2 I know theyre working on that

3 So the statute requires that we deny the

4 application on the fact that the reading

5 curriculum plan was not sufficient at all

6 Another key issue that was concerning which

7 led to a good cause denial of the application was

8 that a risk of students not being prepared for the

9 FCAT Because they identified assessments which

10 Im very familiar with failed to have the

11 measuring tools that would guide teacher

12 instruction in being able to support deficiencies

13 or make accommodations or get those students ready

14 for that you know accelerated dual enrollment

15 advanced AP or pre-med curriculum

16 Im going to wrap it up because I know

17 everybody is ready to go When we talk about our

18 ELL students and we are doing a lot within our

19 districts to better support all students there

20 was really -- I struggled with finding out how the

21 students were going to enter our school And an

22 ELL student is just one designation because you

23 can have an ELL student that also has an ESE

24 designation and has some little deficiencies in

25 particular other areas

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1 There was no -- they failed to demonstrate

2 how they were going to make choices of selecting

3 the appropriate materials to meet the needs of all

4 students

5 To say we will select resources but there

6 was no clear indication of how those decisions

7 would be made The assessments didnt provide

8 that detailed information to guide that choice so

9 upon that there was no reason but to have a good

10 cause for denial

11 MS HEINEY Good afternoon My name is

12 Angela Heiney H-e-i-n-e-y and I reviewed the

13 business plan for the applicant As an overview

14 the entire business plan did not meet the standard

15 with the exception of the transportation which

16 only partially met the standard

17 There were quite a few reasons that we found

18 for this The biggest -- there were statutory

19 failures all over the place 100233(6)(a)5

20 states that there has to be an annual financial

21 plan based on projected revenues and expenditures

22 What we found is that the revenues and

23 expenditures provided were unsubstantiated

24 unsupported and there was missing money all over

25 the place For example on Page 107 the

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1 applicant states theyre going to take out

2 $500000 in loans to fund their startup however

3 if you look at their five-year business plan

4 there is no repayment for those loans And they

5 provided absolutely no correspondence from any

6 lending institution that says theyre willing to

7 give half a million dollars and not expect a penny

8 back for over five years In this current

9 economic climate that rarely if ever happens

10 Ive never seen it

11 The application and the denial or the

12 response to the denial that was filed -- the

13 notice of appeal -- there were several points that

14 were made in our denial however they never even

15 discussed those

16 For example the application specifically

17 states that they plan on contracting out HR and

18 accounting services however they dont know how

19 much it is so they didnt even include that in

20 their budget For some of our schools that is

21 thousands and thousands of dollars a year just

22 missing

23 Theres inconsistencies Mr Whitaker just

24 stated that the City of Jacksonville has not

25 promised the money However Page 104 states that

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1 they have a verbal commitment There is no

2 evidence of any commitment no letters from former

3 Mayor Delaney no letters from current Mayor

4 Browns office anybody even suggesting that they

5 know who this school is and that theyre willing

6 to support it

7 A second statutory failing occurs again in

8 (6)(a)5 where it states that the application must

9 have a description of controls that safeguard

10 financing

11 During the general help session the

12 applicants were told they must give detailed

13 procedures on certain areas Why Because these

14 are the areas that consistently have fraud

15 errors thefts mistakes We dont like to

16 believe that will happen at schools but frankly

17 bad things do happen

18 They were told you must have accounts

19 payables accounts receivables cash management

20 payroll those areas Why This is where weve

21 seen problems happen There was nothing There

22 was some general policy given on Pages 113 and 14

23 And they state on Page 113 there will be

24 implementation of many internal financial

25 controls however that is not a description of

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1 controls which is what is mandated by the

2 statute

3 Another failing occurs on Statute 21839

4 This statute mandates the use of an independent

5 certified public account for performing annual

6 financial reporting so the audited financial

7 statements which are required

8 In Attachment 7 it states that the same

9 person providing accounting services will also

10 perform the auditing services According to the

11 American Institute of CPAs this is actually a

12 violation of independence and an ethics violation

13 itself So anybody who is willing to do both is

14 not by statute an independent auditor And they

15 have stated in their application thats what

16 theyre going to do

17 When you see one statutory violation that is

18 certainly competent and substantial evidence for

19 denial When you see at least three just in one

20 section now were getting overwhelming grounds

21 for denial

22 But we also saw areas in the facilities where

23 they simply state that they will meet statute

24 Saying youre going to meet statute is not the

25 same as explaining what youre going to do

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1 Theyre stating in their financials that theyre

2 going to have $3 million worth of renovations

3 What on earth are you going to do for $3 million

4 Mr Whitaker stated that the building is just

5 a shell However the application states that it

6 is currently being in use by a daycare for the

7 Urban League So whats going on Theres no

8 consistency between whats being said whats

9 being done in the application

10 In that stance we do not make assumptions

11 We must go with what is written So any verbal

12 statements we cant justify that because all we

13 can hold the applicant to is what has been written

14 in that document

15 We have a problem with food service They

16 state that theyre not going to use NSLP and

17 theyre going to contract a vendor which is

18 perfectly acceptable except their target

19 population is going to be children that are at

20 risk Specifically this is a very high population

21 of children who will qualify for free and reduced

22 lunch What about the kids that cant pay for

23 their food what are they going to do all day in

24 class We cant starve children thats wrong

25 Theres no money in the budget for -shy

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

2 MS HEINEY Im sorry

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

4 MS HEINEY Theres no money in the budget

5 for food so theres no money theres no plan

6 And this is an area that has direct effect on

7 health and well-being of the children

8 The action plan that they gave is completely

9 unrealistic and does not meet up against their

10 academic standards For example they state that

11 theyre going to use Achieve 3000 Achieve 3000

12 is a difficult product to use It does require

13 training

14 And the startup budget and the statement of

15 cash flow is there is no money whatsoever for

16 teacher training So are these teachers supposed

17 to walk in on their first day knowing how to use

18 it The action plan says theres going to be

19 training but theres no money for it so how are

20 you going do it As I said theres quite a bit

21 of reasons And if you have any questions we

22 would be more than happy to respond

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay This takes us to

24 Issue 1 whether the applicant failed to comply

25 with the educational plan regarding guiding

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1 principles target population educational program

2 design curriculum plan student performance

3 assessment and evaluation exceptional students

4 and English language learners

5 So the school if you want to have a couple

6 of minutes to speak directly to the educational

7 plan and then well give the district the same

8 amount of time

9 MS ALEXANDER Sure With respect to the

10 mission statement we believe that the denial was

11 not supported by competent substantial evidence in

12 any way For example the School Board alleges

13 that we didnt provide an adequate mission

14 statement or describe how the school utilizes

15 guiding principles

16 As you can kind of get the sense from hearing

17 Dr Myers hes got a pretty sophisticated sense

18 of mission And with respect to the mission

19 statement the application specifically says on

20 Page 4 The mission statement of the charter high

21 school is to provide an exemplary personalized

22 learning program in a supportive resource rich

23 contemporary learning environment Stephen Biko

24 Charter High School is dedicated to excellence and

25 committed to nurturing passionate lifelong

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1 learners

2 It also says that The school will meet the

3 high standards of student achievement by

4 supporting positive academic outcomes for students

5 by addressing the academic social economical -shy

6 Im sorry -- emotional and behavioral needs of

7 enrolled students And it says that High

8 standards will be evident which will offer parents

9 and guardians of students currently attending the

10 elementary and charter schools of Duval County the

11 flexibility to choose the school

12 So our view is that if you actually look at

13 the application there is a specific mission its

14 very clear and in fact weve met the standard

15 Just as an aside there was a reference to a

16 private school cant be a charter school

17 Dr Myers started the private school on donations

18 alone in the interim because he wanted to try to

19 start offering education to the average students

20 as quickly as possible He consulted with the DOE

21 and was told that in fact he could open up the

22 school and that if the charter is granted he

23 could transition from the private school into the

24 charter model so there isnt any prohibition

25 against how hes doing it

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1 But our view is if you look at the

2 application there is a clear mission its

3 outlined there and it did meet the standard So

4 thank you

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

6 District

7 DR MYERS Can I

8 CHAIRMAN CHU You have about 30 seconds

9 DR MYERS Thank you I contacted the

10 Department of Education and they expressed to me

11 that I have to close the school and once I close

12 the school every child has to apply So that was

13 done prior to opening up the private school

14 As they stated theres nowhere in that

15 application where it states (inaudible) So all

16 of these things are preposterous in what theyre

17 saying and its just things that theyre trying

18 to elaborate to make the application look bad

19 As I expressed to you Board members this

20 application was approved similar last year It

21 was the exact application So everything that

22 shes coming up with and all three of them does

23 not make sense it does not It does not weigh

24 this application God knows it does not And

25 they cannot give you sufficient reasons why

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1 Thats why they come in with all of these

2 fictitious false allegations against this

3 application Thats all theyre doing They

4 approved this application last year they did

5 And thats all Im asking for

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right District

7 MR McDUFFIE Just briefly and I will turn

8 the mic over to Ms Bowen

9 This is the second time youve heard that

10 there was a mirror application from last year I

11 would like to ask the Commission to go to Page 39

12 of the application There is a specific provision

13 in the application which says if the school

14 intends to replicate an existing school design

15 you are supposed to notify the district under E

16 and F in that section

17 In their application that section is blank

18 okay So they are replicating an existing school

19 design they did not notify us of that in the

20 application

21 And secondly that also takes away the

22 innovative factor of the school If theyre

23 replicating an existing school what is innovative

24 about their charter school

25 Just briefly again with respect to that

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1 private school the application is in the name of

2 Stephen Biko Private Charter School so it is a

3 private school that is making the application

4 MS BOWEN I would just like to add that if

5 there was an application that was approved last

6 year within the past five years we would be glad

7 to go back and look if theres a name thats

8 submitted for us to do reference But when we

9 looked through all of our prior applications we

10 could find no areas where there was similar an

11 exact model of an approved application that had

12 already been approved by the district

13 But to respond to point one as far as the

14 guiding principle section the mission statement

15 was general it was vague and it did not describe

16 meaningful or measurable priority It

17 inefficiently defines the values of the school and

18 was inconsistent with the appellants subsequent

19 educational program plan The question of the

20 guidance embedded within question one clearly says

21 that it should explain what the school intends to

22 do for whom and to what degree And I failed to

23 be able to fully answer all of those questions by

24 reading the statement

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Were going to have a QampA

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1 session so what were going to do now is let me

2 ask the Commission members do you have any

3 questions

4 MS BRUBAKER I would like to hear how

5 you -shy

6 DR MYERS Me

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes Dr Myers How you plan

8 on taking those low performing students to be able

9 to do dual enrollment or AP classes

10 DR MYERS Well first of all as those

11 students arrive in the school various testing

12 will be done on those students TABE testing also

13 WRAT4 testing and various things We would look

14 at the matrix of where the kid came from

15 We have a child now that came to us Georgia

16 from one of the schools in Georgia where he was

17 functioning at a lower level The WRAT4 which is

18 designed to motivate the child and test the child

19 TABE test then we get a matrix from that and we

20 set a curriculum for -- excuse me -- we set the

21 curriculum for the child give the child

22 appropriate courses that the child has already

23 taken or retake again

24 So we move the child in small groups which

25 would be one-on-one learning or it could be group

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1 learning activities The chairs in the classroom

2 are set up and a table where one to one and one to

3 one where the child can model the other child and

4 move forward

5 The APEX curriculum which is used in Duval

6 County Public Schools they just finished using

7 the APEX curriculum in one of their failing

8 schools which moved -- increased the grade two

9 grades -- I think one or two grades at Andrew

10 Jackson High School They have the APEX They

11 have several schools in Duval County thats using

12 the APEX curriculum So its a Florida curriculum

13 that is being used

14 As they expressed the application -- when I

15 looked at the application since I was using the

16 APEX curriculum I said okay why not modify this

17 and put it back into context where its being

18 used So what were doing is we just wrote the

19 application in regards to what they wanted They

20 wanted APEX We put the APEX in there Its a

21 proven fact that its successful in their public

22 schools

23 MS ALEXANDER Can you answer her questions

24 I think which is how you are going to move the low

25 learners up to eventually taking the AP test

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1 DR MYERS Right Im sorry I know I only

2 have a few more minutes or a few seconds But

3 eventually as they progress in each area in math

4 science social studies then we test again So

5 we test at the beginning test at the end

6 And as they -- at the midterm level it tells

7 us whether or not theyre going to be remediated

8 in the course or move forward As they move

9 forward we get the curriculum more rigorous again

10 for them and the next course which is in line so

11 basically one on one and group learning is

12 efficient for them Theyre going to have to take

13 the same courses but if theyre testing at lower

14 levels thats where the individualized

15 instruction will help them

16 Did I answer it

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

18 respond to that

19 MR McDUFFIE Ms Bowen would like to

20 respond But I just want to make it also clear

21 that that -- what was just explained verbally is

22 not in the application

23 MS BOWEN The APEX curriculum is about a

24 curriculum for a set population of students as

25 well as the TABE Assessment they test and measure

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1 students basic skills The expectation under the

2 Common Core the FCAT 20 far exceeds that

3 curriculum And yes we have used it with some

4 of our most lowest performing students and Andrew

5 Jackson did make some gains but they still have

6 19 percent of their students are reading

7 proficiently

8 So my concern is with that curriculum I know

9 that there is something that you needed to have a

10 better indication that was going to provide the

11 teacher with a clear pathway of how to meet those

12 gaps By giving me an assessment thats only

13 measuring my minimum skills it does not

14 demonstrate the expectation of the Lexile level

15 thats required for a college entrance And on

16 Page 39 of his application it clearly states for

17 students who are interested in pre-med coursework

18 The expectation for reading cannot be

19 provided with the diagnosis information that you

20 get with a TABE Assessment or an APEX curriculum

21 Page 10 -- Im sorry I said Page 39 its stuck

22 in my head for some reason -- but on Page 10 it

23 talks about pre-med students and the other

24 innovative -- because thats what hes saying

25 its one of the innovative factors of this

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1 program

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you Are there other

3 questions from the Commission members

4 MS BRADLEY I have a question

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Verdya

6 MS BRADLEY My question is for the school

7 the applicant Is this a solely online program

8 DR MYERS No maam Its basically online

9 and direct instruction

10 MS BRADLEY Do you discuss direct

11 instruction in here

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY The reason that I ask that

14 question is the questions in the application asks

15 specifically for a description of the curriculum

16 a description of the reading program And in your

17 responses your responses pretty much tie back to

18 the APEX curriculum so it appears that it is

19 solely reliant on And then all of the

20 documentation that you gave was from the APEX

21 program So I was just wondering is it just

22 solely online

23 DR MYERS The majority of it but theres a

24 piece where the direct instruction is in place

25 with the child because the children are culled

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1 out for the particular course learning for the

2 subject area that theyre doing The regular

3 curriculum comes in -- the APEX Lexile learning

4 comes in Everything is designed where its

5 implemented on the laptop for the child If the

6 child needs direct instruction the child is

7 culled out into an environment where he or she

8 receives the one-on-one instruction

9 MS BRADLEY Did you discuss that in here

10 DR MYERS Im pretty sure I did

11 MS ALEXANDER What page are you looking at

12 for these

13 MS BRADLEY Well it kind of goes back and

14 forth It starts on Page 16 where it starts

15 talking about the educational program and then it

16 gives me probably about 20 30 pages on APEX and

17 then it goes into the reading curriculum But Im

18 not seeing anywhere where theres any supplement

19 to that

20 Because even the question on Page 16 was

21 Describe the proposed reading or educational

22 program it sort of goes through elements of the

23 APEX program Then on Page 68 it says Describe

24 the reading curriculum

25 DR MYERS Yes maam If you look at

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1 the -shy

2 MS HITCHCOCK Stand up please

3 DR MYERS Im sorry

4 CHAIRMAN CHU If you could come to the mic

5 that would be very helpful because our court

6 reporter is trying to get it all down

7 DR MYERS Im sorry The bullet there

8 says Direct instruction individual and small

9 group instruction led by highly-qualified

10 teachers

11 MS ESPOSITO Say the page

12 MS BRADLEY Thats on Page 16 But its

13 just part of the -- its sort of an isolated

14 bullet but it doesnt explain it any further than

15 that You know it doesnt tell me that there is

16 going to be a pull-out portion

17 DR MYERS Right But as I stated I just

18 put a little piece in there because thats just a

19 little piece of the curriculum and thats why I

20 just mentioned a little piece of it there The

21 majority of it is an online based curriculum

22 MS HODGENS I have a question for the

23 school

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

25 MS HODGENS I am confused on the targeted

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1 population Im trying to get it on the motion

2 sheet so Im going to go to targeted population

3 first And I am a little confused on it because I

4 can read what you say on Page 12 And on Page 12

5 you talk about being open to all students and

6 then you talk about low-performing students and

7 then you go back to all students

8 And then when I go to Page 41 the curriculum

9 design you talk about students needing credit

10 recovery And then I continue on and I see AP

11 courses honor courses And again I dont want

12 to allude that I dont believe that kids can do

13 those courses but I want to understand what

14 population youre really looking at

15 DR MYERS Were looking at all students

16 within that demographic And within the

17 demographics it is a lower level You have lower

18 level one level two basically they are coming

19 from the downtown sector area within that 5-mile

20 radius area of the downtown

21 So when I say all students because a

22 charter school cannot deny a student from applying

23 or coming in all students are accepted if they

24 can meet transportation needs to come to school

25 So as I expressed to you thats what

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1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

Page 7: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

7

1 specific reasons and then you must go back into

2 other documents to find the specific reasons And

3 their evaluation document and their document that

4 they prepared as a summary for the Board in

5 certain cases is contradictory So its a

6 difficult challenge for us to number one put

7 together the issue sheet but number two I think

8 youve seen already your initial instructions were

9 denial of any one of these reasons within any of

10 these bullets under the educational plan

11 constitutes good cause Then one of the members

12 in the last vote further clarified that issue

13 Im certain that the members of the Commission

14 understand that

15 Im certainly not seeing any prejudice to

16 either of the parties in the format that its

17 currently in And I think there is -- and most

18 importantly as youve seen in the prior cases

19 many of these issues are interrelated and the

20 explanation and the proof of whether or not they

21 met any one of the seven standards for the

22 educational plan its in the same area of the

23 application There is crossover between some of

24 the information that prove or disproves whether or

25 not theyve met that standard

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1 So I believe the way we have proposed it I

2 think is certainly consistent with the statutory

3 construct and theres no rule or statute that

4 would require us to do anything different

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counsel

6 I would agree with that I think the way

7 this Commission has historically operated -- I

8 mean we are certainly going to look at all of the

9 issues that currently -shy

10 MS HITCHCOCK Can you speak up

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes Jackie

12 Thank you very much counsel Given the way

13 that this Commission operates I dont see an

14 issue with continuing to operate the way we

15 usually do so your motion is denied So we will

16 continue with the way that we usually operate and

17 go through the various issues

18 Jackie if you would pass out the motion

19 sheets and then we can get started

20 All right We are going to get started So

21 again well give the school 15 minutes to present

22 your case and then well give the district the

23 same amount of time Again certainly being

24 succinct is appreciated

25 So with that proceed

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1 MS ALEXANDER I appreciate it Thank you

2 My name is Stephanie Alexander Im from the law

3 firm of Tripp Scott Im here today to represent

4 Stephen Biko Charter School

5 And with me to my right is Dr Greg Myers

6 Hes the principal and founder of the school and

7 also Joe Whitaker who is on the Board and he is

8 with the Jacksonville Economic Development

9 Council And if I could remember his long title

10 I would tell you what it is but Im sure that he

11 can do that

12 We all know what the law is in terms of the

13 standards so Im going to not really get into that

14 now And we also -- this isnt our first rodeo

15 Its getting late in the afternoon so Im not

16 going to go over it issue by issue in my opening

17 statement here Were going to do that as the

18 issues come up

19 But I wanted you all to understand the nature

20 of this charter school how it came about what

21 the status is of it today because I think thats

22 really important From our perspective the

23 overarching point is we think that -- and we think

24 that we will prove that the application should

25 have been granted And in fact it mirrors an

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1 application that Jacksonville -- Im sorry -- the

2 Duval County School Board actually approved the

3 year before So our opinion is that it should

4 have been sufficient it was sufficient the year

5 before and there really arent differences that

6 would account for the differences in treatment

7 But the more important point and which is

8 why I want you to understand how the charter

9 school got started where it is now and the

10 genesis of it is because I think that youll be

11 as impressed as I was to learn about the history

12 and what is going on now

13 And with that I would like to ask Dr Myers

14 to get up and give you a little five minutes about

15 where things are Thank you

16 DR MYERS Good afternoon everyone

17 Chairperson Board members Excuse me Im a

18 little tall

19 MS HITCHCOCK I think that we can probably

20 hear you Dr Myers you dont have to bend down

21 DR MYERS My name is Dr Myers Gregory

22 Myers educated at Duval County one of their

23 products with the school reared in Duval County

24 from elementary Originally from South America

25 came to the United States in 1968 immigrant

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1 parents West Indian mom Portuguese dad And it

2 was instilled to be the best in this world

3 I was a defiant kid had to be removed from

4 Duval County Public School System But it took a

5 principal that grabbed me and said that you are

6 the best and I believe in you And I went on and

7 graduated from high school received a football

8 scholarship went on to college graduated played

9 some professional football and returned back to

10 receive my masters degree my PhD in health

11 care administration

12 And I wanted to give something back to this

13 county that I represented and I saw a school that

14 was so vibrant and God touched me to say that

15 thats what I want you to do This is all about

16 this building Thats what this whole issue is

17 about Its about this great building the

18 oldest historical African-American high school in

19 the United States

20 They feel as though that Im going to take

21 their kids but this school is about every child

22 in Duval County Ive been granted the

23 opportunity by all the former mayors and the mayor

24 of Jacksonville to succeed in this because they

25 believe in me as an individual as an

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1 African-American to the community and one that

2 can put this together I would be blessed to have

3 a great partner of Joe Whitaker who has worked

4 with me diligently on this

5 The school is open now Weve opened as a

6 private school We had our first graduate this

7 December that went through all of the standards of

8 Duval County She came to us from a failing

9 school a failing school that was not progressing

10 But now she went from scoring a 14 on the ACT to a

11 19 That says that were doing something

12 We have up to 35 kids that are accelerating

13 using a curriculum called APEX curriculum which

14 is in their county They fostered the curriculum

15 Whats wrong with it Nothing

16 I know Im speaking but Im speaking from my

17 heart because this touches me Im one of theirs

18 educator and I have to be treated like this It

19 is wrong and thats how I feel because Im only

20 speaking from my heart And it hurts me today it

21 all hurts me All of this is for -- because this

22 is mirrored off an application that they approved

23 last year last year they approved this

24 application

25 So why should I have to be subject to what

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1 Im going through And it is wrong And Im only

2 speaking from my heart You cant throw me in the

3 garbage can speaking from my heart thats what

4 Im doing today

5 And Im just asking you to give me the

6 opportunity to show these individuals from my

7 county that I can be successful I am being

8 successful with these kids Im doing a great

9 job And former Mayor Delaney he inspired me to

10 do this because he said Greg you are passionate

11 Most individuals that open up charter schools open

12 them up for the wrong reasons they open them up

13 for funds I opening up because I love kids and I

14 want to change lives because Im tired of seeing

15 children go into the prison system and Im tired

16 of seeing children going wayward

17 The young lady that finished our school

18 shes now attending Virginia College received a

19 full scholarship Thats what this is all about

20 And if it could change my life imagine how it

21 could change other lives

22 So thats why it makes me upset it makes me

23 angry because Ive been going through this and

24 its all about this beautiful building Old

25 Stanton High School located right behind the new

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1 courthouse Thats what its all about All this

2 is is just a dog and pony show this is what its

3 about because they feel as though Im going to

4 take the kids from (inaudible) and Andrew Jackson

5 Thank you so much for listening to me and

6 Ill be responding to your questions

7 MS ALEXANDER As you can tell hes very

8 passionate about his school And he was in fact

9 urged by former Mayor Delaney to start the charter

10 school

11 And the building that hes showing and

12 referring to is actually right behind -- as he

13 said its right behind the brand new courthouse

14 And in fact the development authority which Joe

15 Whitaker will speak to has actually pledged funds

16 to refurbish the building And thats where the

17 charter school will be housed

18 And all of those plans are in place but in

19 fact because we dont have charter school

20 approval we cant go forward and get the funds to

21 rehab the school thats right behind the

22 courthouse in downtown Its part of the

23 revitalization district of downtown Jacksonville

24 What he forgot to stay was not only was he a

25 product of the education system in Jacksonville

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1 but he taught in the Duval County Schools for

2 many many years He was a football coach he was

3 a teacher he was an assistant principle he was a

4 principal in fact he ran three Drop In Academy

5 Schools in Duval before in fact deciding to open

6 up the new charter school at the urgence of former

7 Mayor John Delaney who is in fact on his Board

8 and as you all know is now the current President

9 of the University of North Florida So thats

10 really the backdrop of this

11 And Im going to turn it over to Joe

12 Whitaker who is on the Board and will give you a

13 little sense of whats going on with the building

14 so you get a sense of the whole background here

15 Thanks

16 MR WHITAKER Good afternoon My name is

17 Joe Whitaker and Im with the Mayors Office of

18 Economic Development for the City of Jacksonville

19 And I got intrigued by Mr Myers desire to open

20 up a charter school because I ran a loan program

21 for the City and I assisted him in another project

22 that he did to put something back into his

23 neighborhood So Ive watched him and Ive seen

24 his passion and his energy for getting things

25 done

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1 And one of the things that I admire about

2 Dr Myers is that he does what he says hes going

3 to do when he says hes going to do it And

4 thats fairly rare in my opinion

5 I would like to just clear up any other

6 misunderstandings The City of Jacksonville has

7 yet not pledged funds for his project until we

8 have a charter school designation so that we dont

9 waste a lot of time trying to raise money But

10 essentially the Old Stanton High School was built

11 in 1901 and it is now just a shell and it is

12 governed by a not-for-profit Board And we have

13 achieved the first step of the goal and that is

14 they have given us site control

15 So we do have the ability if were granted a

16 charter to be able to go out then and raise the

17 funds to be able to rehabilitate this building and

18 actually put upwards of 400 young students in

19 there in high school

20 And we dont have a high school in downtown

21 Jacksonville and we believe that this opportunity

22 to redevelop the Old Stanton building is a

23 worthwhile endeavor on behalf of our redevelopment

24 efforts and were anxious to do that

25 We have put together a Board that we believe

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1 has the fundraising capacity to be able to

2 generate enough private capital to get this kicked

3 off And the City of Jacksonville has an historic

4 loan fund that we have the ability to be able to

5 get some money from to finish the product And we

6 think its going to be a success

7 Downtown Jacksonville is going through its

8 own renaissance We have people moving downtown

9 and were bringing more retail downtown and our

10 Mayor is focused on rebuilding downtown So we

11 believe that we have an opportunity to be

12 successful

13 I chose to volunteer to be on Gregs Board

14 because I believe in him And we have been

15 working to get other prominent people in the

16 community on this Board so that we can make a

17 difference Thats what this is all about

18 As an economic development professional with

19 the City of Jacksonville for the last 30 years

20 Ive been involved in a lot of projects 156

21 projects since 2001 and weve generated private

22 capital investments of $14 million and weve

23 created 15000 jobs So the group that Im

24 working with we believe that this is achievable

25 But the first step is to get site control we

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1 have that Now the next step is we get the

2 charter then we have the ability to be able to

3 raise the funds you know to put this project

4 together Ill be happy to answer any questions

5 you may have

6 MS ALEXANDER Given that the school has

7 already opened and is successfully educating

8 students we believe that there wasnt good cause

9 in fact to deny the application and we will be

10 happy to answer any questions with respect to the

11 specific categories I just didnt want to go

12 through them twice given that its late in the

13 day So I just wanted to give you a background

14 thats where we are And we respectfully request

15 that you grant our appeal and thank you very

16 much

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

18 Representatives for the district

19 MR McDUFFIE Thank you members of the

20 Commission Again my name is Brian McDuffie

21 Im Executive Director for Policy and Compliance

22 with Duval County Public Schools

23 With me to my left is Ms Jackie Bowen

24 Executive Director for Academic Services

25 Ms Angela Heiney who is Coordinator of Financial

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1 Reporting We also have Karen Chastain who is

2 Chief Legal Officer for the district as well as

3 Shanita Roper and Anita Henry-Smith who are from

4 our charter schools office

5 The first thing that I want to touch upon is

6 the charter school climate in Duval County We

7 approved 13 out of 15 applications that went to

8 the Board during this last cycle We currently

9 have 21 charter schools operating in Duval County

10 And I think if every application or every

11 applicant that had good intentions had their

12 charter school approved there would be an

13 overwhelming number of charter schools It is not

14 necessarily about worthwhile intentions

15 And there has never been any question on our

16 part about the integrity of the people trying to

17 start this charter school none whatsoever They

18 appear to be good people with good intentions It

19 is not about that It is also not about

20 redeveloping downtown Jacksonville It is about

21 the children

22 And thats what we have been given the task

23 of doing as a sponsor to look and make sure that

24 when these applications come in that the children

25 are protected

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1 What Im going to do today is basically

2 provide the Commission with a slight overview with

3 respect to Issue 2 Ms Heiney will talk with

4 respect to Issue 3 And Ms Bowen will talk with

5 respect to Issue 1 just as an overview

6 So moving to Issue 2 governance the first

7 thing -- again keep within the time

8 constraints -- as a highlight the applicant is a

9 private school That in and on its face is a

10 reason for denial If you look at Florida

11 Statutes 100233(3)(b) a private school cannot be

12 a charter school

13 Moving on to management With respect to the

14 management section we were provided with

15 essentially a lot of vague information They

16 failed to give the management structure job

17 descriptions for teachers the administrative

18 positions They failed to give criteria as to how

19 they were going to select teachers And they also

20 failed to describe how they were going to monitor

21 teacher certification as well as how to fill

22 status

23 Based on these measures with respect to

24 Issue 2 under governance and management we feel

25 that the School Board had competent substantial

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1 evidence and good cause to deny the application

2 And next to speak will be Ms Jackie Bowen

3 MS BOWEN Good afternoon Im Jacqueline

4 Bowen the Academic Services Executive Director

5 I do appreciate the applicants passion for

6 students thats why Im here But I would also

7 like to reiterate as our counsel has said that I

8 am not a historical resident of Jacksonville And

9 as we review applications I have no knowledge of

10 many of the historical factors or the political

11 things that are behind it having only been in the

12 city for 12 years My goal and every analysis or

13 review of the complete instructional plan is that

14 it benefit children

15 So in reviewing the actual application there

16 were great deficiencies in the areas of the

17 guiding principles the targeted population was

18 very unclear the education program design the

19 curriculum plan the student performance

20 assessments evaluation the actual educational

21 supporting plan for the ESE population as well as

22 ELL students

23 So for example within this application

24 its supposed to provide any reader or reviewer a

25 very clear picture of what a student will need to

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1 do and what they will experience as they are

2 attending that institution meaning that I should

3 have an understanding of the applicant And the

4 applicant was real clear that he wanted to

5 provide the whole child and provide that

6 experience

7 But it didnt give me a clear understanding

8 or the reviewers upon my team about the

9 structure how the things that were identified

10 were truly going to support and guide teachers

11 decisions to make sure theyre meeting the

12 standards of the NGSS and the Common Core and

13 ultimately graduating

14 The application was indistinguishable between

15 the targeted population because at one point it

16 talked about at-risk students from a particular

17 5-mile geographic dynamics and then it said all

18 students no matter what according to the

19 standard of expectation

20 The applicant briefly described a pre-med

21 program a dual enrollment advanced placement

22 classes And the appeal reiterated the error by

23 describing instructional programs and learning

24 strategies but they failed to provide a clear

25 picture as to how you were going to take

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1 struggling students or any student to that

2 advanced and rigorous curriculum

3 And as we can say that the standard requires

4 the application to explain not only what the

5 school is going to teach but how they were going

6 to teach it I was continually searching which

7 Im not required to do throughout the entire

8 application to see how was this instruction going

9 to be -- what is that child going to experience on

10 a daily basis And it was very unclear

11 Statute 100233 also states that the charter

12 application must have a detailed curriculum plan

13 a curriculum plan not a curriculum resource a

14 plan for instruction that illustrates how those

15 students are going to be provided services to meet

16 those graduation requirements We are in the

17 business of graduating students

18 So the application also didnt provide a very

19 clear reading curriculum They referenced the

20 Just Read Florida Website which Im very happy

21 that they were there supporting but it is a

22 resource document it does not outline a

23 curriculum plan And unfortunately -- and Im

24 saying this in this building -- it really only

25 sports primary education When you get towards

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1 secondary the resources become very limited And

2 I know theyre working on that

3 So the statute requires that we deny the

4 application on the fact that the reading

5 curriculum plan was not sufficient at all

6 Another key issue that was concerning which

7 led to a good cause denial of the application was

8 that a risk of students not being prepared for the

9 FCAT Because they identified assessments which

10 Im very familiar with failed to have the

11 measuring tools that would guide teacher

12 instruction in being able to support deficiencies

13 or make accommodations or get those students ready

14 for that you know accelerated dual enrollment

15 advanced AP or pre-med curriculum

16 Im going to wrap it up because I know

17 everybody is ready to go When we talk about our

18 ELL students and we are doing a lot within our

19 districts to better support all students there

20 was really -- I struggled with finding out how the

21 students were going to enter our school And an

22 ELL student is just one designation because you

23 can have an ELL student that also has an ESE

24 designation and has some little deficiencies in

25 particular other areas

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1 There was no -- they failed to demonstrate

2 how they were going to make choices of selecting

3 the appropriate materials to meet the needs of all

4 students

5 To say we will select resources but there

6 was no clear indication of how those decisions

7 would be made The assessments didnt provide

8 that detailed information to guide that choice so

9 upon that there was no reason but to have a good

10 cause for denial

11 MS HEINEY Good afternoon My name is

12 Angela Heiney H-e-i-n-e-y and I reviewed the

13 business plan for the applicant As an overview

14 the entire business plan did not meet the standard

15 with the exception of the transportation which

16 only partially met the standard

17 There were quite a few reasons that we found

18 for this The biggest -- there were statutory

19 failures all over the place 100233(6)(a)5

20 states that there has to be an annual financial

21 plan based on projected revenues and expenditures

22 What we found is that the revenues and

23 expenditures provided were unsubstantiated

24 unsupported and there was missing money all over

25 the place For example on Page 107 the

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1 applicant states theyre going to take out

2 $500000 in loans to fund their startup however

3 if you look at their five-year business plan

4 there is no repayment for those loans And they

5 provided absolutely no correspondence from any

6 lending institution that says theyre willing to

7 give half a million dollars and not expect a penny

8 back for over five years In this current

9 economic climate that rarely if ever happens

10 Ive never seen it

11 The application and the denial or the

12 response to the denial that was filed -- the

13 notice of appeal -- there were several points that

14 were made in our denial however they never even

15 discussed those

16 For example the application specifically

17 states that they plan on contracting out HR and

18 accounting services however they dont know how

19 much it is so they didnt even include that in

20 their budget For some of our schools that is

21 thousands and thousands of dollars a year just

22 missing

23 Theres inconsistencies Mr Whitaker just

24 stated that the City of Jacksonville has not

25 promised the money However Page 104 states that

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1 they have a verbal commitment There is no

2 evidence of any commitment no letters from former

3 Mayor Delaney no letters from current Mayor

4 Browns office anybody even suggesting that they

5 know who this school is and that theyre willing

6 to support it

7 A second statutory failing occurs again in

8 (6)(a)5 where it states that the application must

9 have a description of controls that safeguard

10 financing

11 During the general help session the

12 applicants were told they must give detailed

13 procedures on certain areas Why Because these

14 are the areas that consistently have fraud

15 errors thefts mistakes We dont like to

16 believe that will happen at schools but frankly

17 bad things do happen

18 They were told you must have accounts

19 payables accounts receivables cash management

20 payroll those areas Why This is where weve

21 seen problems happen There was nothing There

22 was some general policy given on Pages 113 and 14

23 And they state on Page 113 there will be

24 implementation of many internal financial

25 controls however that is not a description of

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1 controls which is what is mandated by the

2 statute

3 Another failing occurs on Statute 21839

4 This statute mandates the use of an independent

5 certified public account for performing annual

6 financial reporting so the audited financial

7 statements which are required

8 In Attachment 7 it states that the same

9 person providing accounting services will also

10 perform the auditing services According to the

11 American Institute of CPAs this is actually a

12 violation of independence and an ethics violation

13 itself So anybody who is willing to do both is

14 not by statute an independent auditor And they

15 have stated in their application thats what

16 theyre going to do

17 When you see one statutory violation that is

18 certainly competent and substantial evidence for

19 denial When you see at least three just in one

20 section now were getting overwhelming grounds

21 for denial

22 But we also saw areas in the facilities where

23 they simply state that they will meet statute

24 Saying youre going to meet statute is not the

25 same as explaining what youre going to do

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1 Theyre stating in their financials that theyre

2 going to have $3 million worth of renovations

3 What on earth are you going to do for $3 million

4 Mr Whitaker stated that the building is just

5 a shell However the application states that it

6 is currently being in use by a daycare for the

7 Urban League So whats going on Theres no

8 consistency between whats being said whats

9 being done in the application

10 In that stance we do not make assumptions

11 We must go with what is written So any verbal

12 statements we cant justify that because all we

13 can hold the applicant to is what has been written

14 in that document

15 We have a problem with food service They

16 state that theyre not going to use NSLP and

17 theyre going to contract a vendor which is

18 perfectly acceptable except their target

19 population is going to be children that are at

20 risk Specifically this is a very high population

21 of children who will qualify for free and reduced

22 lunch What about the kids that cant pay for

23 their food what are they going to do all day in

24 class We cant starve children thats wrong

25 Theres no money in the budget for -shy

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

2 MS HEINEY Im sorry

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

4 MS HEINEY Theres no money in the budget

5 for food so theres no money theres no plan

6 And this is an area that has direct effect on

7 health and well-being of the children

8 The action plan that they gave is completely

9 unrealistic and does not meet up against their

10 academic standards For example they state that

11 theyre going to use Achieve 3000 Achieve 3000

12 is a difficult product to use It does require

13 training

14 And the startup budget and the statement of

15 cash flow is there is no money whatsoever for

16 teacher training So are these teachers supposed

17 to walk in on their first day knowing how to use

18 it The action plan says theres going to be

19 training but theres no money for it so how are

20 you going do it As I said theres quite a bit

21 of reasons And if you have any questions we

22 would be more than happy to respond

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay This takes us to

24 Issue 1 whether the applicant failed to comply

25 with the educational plan regarding guiding

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1 principles target population educational program

2 design curriculum plan student performance

3 assessment and evaluation exceptional students

4 and English language learners

5 So the school if you want to have a couple

6 of minutes to speak directly to the educational

7 plan and then well give the district the same

8 amount of time

9 MS ALEXANDER Sure With respect to the

10 mission statement we believe that the denial was

11 not supported by competent substantial evidence in

12 any way For example the School Board alleges

13 that we didnt provide an adequate mission

14 statement or describe how the school utilizes

15 guiding principles

16 As you can kind of get the sense from hearing

17 Dr Myers hes got a pretty sophisticated sense

18 of mission And with respect to the mission

19 statement the application specifically says on

20 Page 4 The mission statement of the charter high

21 school is to provide an exemplary personalized

22 learning program in a supportive resource rich

23 contemporary learning environment Stephen Biko

24 Charter High School is dedicated to excellence and

25 committed to nurturing passionate lifelong

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1 learners

2 It also says that The school will meet the

3 high standards of student achievement by

4 supporting positive academic outcomes for students

5 by addressing the academic social economical -shy

6 Im sorry -- emotional and behavioral needs of

7 enrolled students And it says that High

8 standards will be evident which will offer parents

9 and guardians of students currently attending the

10 elementary and charter schools of Duval County the

11 flexibility to choose the school

12 So our view is that if you actually look at

13 the application there is a specific mission its

14 very clear and in fact weve met the standard

15 Just as an aside there was a reference to a

16 private school cant be a charter school

17 Dr Myers started the private school on donations

18 alone in the interim because he wanted to try to

19 start offering education to the average students

20 as quickly as possible He consulted with the DOE

21 and was told that in fact he could open up the

22 school and that if the charter is granted he

23 could transition from the private school into the

24 charter model so there isnt any prohibition

25 against how hes doing it

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1 But our view is if you look at the

2 application there is a clear mission its

3 outlined there and it did meet the standard So

4 thank you

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

6 District

7 DR MYERS Can I

8 CHAIRMAN CHU You have about 30 seconds

9 DR MYERS Thank you I contacted the

10 Department of Education and they expressed to me

11 that I have to close the school and once I close

12 the school every child has to apply So that was

13 done prior to opening up the private school

14 As they stated theres nowhere in that

15 application where it states (inaudible) So all

16 of these things are preposterous in what theyre

17 saying and its just things that theyre trying

18 to elaborate to make the application look bad

19 As I expressed to you Board members this

20 application was approved similar last year It

21 was the exact application So everything that

22 shes coming up with and all three of them does

23 not make sense it does not It does not weigh

24 this application God knows it does not And

25 they cannot give you sufficient reasons why

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1 Thats why they come in with all of these

2 fictitious false allegations against this

3 application Thats all theyre doing They

4 approved this application last year they did

5 And thats all Im asking for

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right District

7 MR McDUFFIE Just briefly and I will turn

8 the mic over to Ms Bowen

9 This is the second time youve heard that

10 there was a mirror application from last year I

11 would like to ask the Commission to go to Page 39

12 of the application There is a specific provision

13 in the application which says if the school

14 intends to replicate an existing school design

15 you are supposed to notify the district under E

16 and F in that section

17 In their application that section is blank

18 okay So they are replicating an existing school

19 design they did not notify us of that in the

20 application

21 And secondly that also takes away the

22 innovative factor of the school If theyre

23 replicating an existing school what is innovative

24 about their charter school

25 Just briefly again with respect to that

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1 private school the application is in the name of

2 Stephen Biko Private Charter School so it is a

3 private school that is making the application

4 MS BOWEN I would just like to add that if

5 there was an application that was approved last

6 year within the past five years we would be glad

7 to go back and look if theres a name thats

8 submitted for us to do reference But when we

9 looked through all of our prior applications we

10 could find no areas where there was similar an

11 exact model of an approved application that had

12 already been approved by the district

13 But to respond to point one as far as the

14 guiding principle section the mission statement

15 was general it was vague and it did not describe

16 meaningful or measurable priority It

17 inefficiently defines the values of the school and

18 was inconsistent with the appellants subsequent

19 educational program plan The question of the

20 guidance embedded within question one clearly says

21 that it should explain what the school intends to

22 do for whom and to what degree And I failed to

23 be able to fully answer all of those questions by

24 reading the statement

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Were going to have a QampA

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1 session so what were going to do now is let me

2 ask the Commission members do you have any

3 questions

4 MS BRUBAKER I would like to hear how

5 you -shy

6 DR MYERS Me

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes Dr Myers How you plan

8 on taking those low performing students to be able

9 to do dual enrollment or AP classes

10 DR MYERS Well first of all as those

11 students arrive in the school various testing

12 will be done on those students TABE testing also

13 WRAT4 testing and various things We would look

14 at the matrix of where the kid came from

15 We have a child now that came to us Georgia

16 from one of the schools in Georgia where he was

17 functioning at a lower level The WRAT4 which is

18 designed to motivate the child and test the child

19 TABE test then we get a matrix from that and we

20 set a curriculum for -- excuse me -- we set the

21 curriculum for the child give the child

22 appropriate courses that the child has already

23 taken or retake again

24 So we move the child in small groups which

25 would be one-on-one learning or it could be group

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1 learning activities The chairs in the classroom

2 are set up and a table where one to one and one to

3 one where the child can model the other child and

4 move forward

5 The APEX curriculum which is used in Duval

6 County Public Schools they just finished using

7 the APEX curriculum in one of their failing

8 schools which moved -- increased the grade two

9 grades -- I think one or two grades at Andrew

10 Jackson High School They have the APEX They

11 have several schools in Duval County thats using

12 the APEX curriculum So its a Florida curriculum

13 that is being used

14 As they expressed the application -- when I

15 looked at the application since I was using the

16 APEX curriculum I said okay why not modify this

17 and put it back into context where its being

18 used So what were doing is we just wrote the

19 application in regards to what they wanted They

20 wanted APEX We put the APEX in there Its a

21 proven fact that its successful in their public

22 schools

23 MS ALEXANDER Can you answer her questions

24 I think which is how you are going to move the low

25 learners up to eventually taking the AP test

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1 DR MYERS Right Im sorry I know I only

2 have a few more minutes or a few seconds But

3 eventually as they progress in each area in math

4 science social studies then we test again So

5 we test at the beginning test at the end

6 And as they -- at the midterm level it tells

7 us whether or not theyre going to be remediated

8 in the course or move forward As they move

9 forward we get the curriculum more rigorous again

10 for them and the next course which is in line so

11 basically one on one and group learning is

12 efficient for them Theyre going to have to take

13 the same courses but if theyre testing at lower

14 levels thats where the individualized

15 instruction will help them

16 Did I answer it

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

18 respond to that

19 MR McDUFFIE Ms Bowen would like to

20 respond But I just want to make it also clear

21 that that -- what was just explained verbally is

22 not in the application

23 MS BOWEN The APEX curriculum is about a

24 curriculum for a set population of students as

25 well as the TABE Assessment they test and measure

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1 students basic skills The expectation under the

2 Common Core the FCAT 20 far exceeds that

3 curriculum And yes we have used it with some

4 of our most lowest performing students and Andrew

5 Jackson did make some gains but they still have

6 19 percent of their students are reading

7 proficiently

8 So my concern is with that curriculum I know

9 that there is something that you needed to have a

10 better indication that was going to provide the

11 teacher with a clear pathway of how to meet those

12 gaps By giving me an assessment thats only

13 measuring my minimum skills it does not

14 demonstrate the expectation of the Lexile level

15 thats required for a college entrance And on

16 Page 39 of his application it clearly states for

17 students who are interested in pre-med coursework

18 The expectation for reading cannot be

19 provided with the diagnosis information that you

20 get with a TABE Assessment or an APEX curriculum

21 Page 10 -- Im sorry I said Page 39 its stuck

22 in my head for some reason -- but on Page 10 it

23 talks about pre-med students and the other

24 innovative -- because thats what hes saying

25 its one of the innovative factors of this

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1 program

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you Are there other

3 questions from the Commission members

4 MS BRADLEY I have a question

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Verdya

6 MS BRADLEY My question is for the school

7 the applicant Is this a solely online program

8 DR MYERS No maam Its basically online

9 and direct instruction

10 MS BRADLEY Do you discuss direct

11 instruction in here

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY The reason that I ask that

14 question is the questions in the application asks

15 specifically for a description of the curriculum

16 a description of the reading program And in your

17 responses your responses pretty much tie back to

18 the APEX curriculum so it appears that it is

19 solely reliant on And then all of the

20 documentation that you gave was from the APEX

21 program So I was just wondering is it just

22 solely online

23 DR MYERS The majority of it but theres a

24 piece where the direct instruction is in place

25 with the child because the children are culled

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1 out for the particular course learning for the

2 subject area that theyre doing The regular

3 curriculum comes in -- the APEX Lexile learning

4 comes in Everything is designed where its

5 implemented on the laptop for the child If the

6 child needs direct instruction the child is

7 culled out into an environment where he or she

8 receives the one-on-one instruction

9 MS BRADLEY Did you discuss that in here

10 DR MYERS Im pretty sure I did

11 MS ALEXANDER What page are you looking at

12 for these

13 MS BRADLEY Well it kind of goes back and

14 forth It starts on Page 16 where it starts

15 talking about the educational program and then it

16 gives me probably about 20 30 pages on APEX and

17 then it goes into the reading curriculum But Im

18 not seeing anywhere where theres any supplement

19 to that

20 Because even the question on Page 16 was

21 Describe the proposed reading or educational

22 program it sort of goes through elements of the

23 APEX program Then on Page 68 it says Describe

24 the reading curriculum

25 DR MYERS Yes maam If you look at

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1 the -shy

2 MS HITCHCOCK Stand up please

3 DR MYERS Im sorry

4 CHAIRMAN CHU If you could come to the mic

5 that would be very helpful because our court

6 reporter is trying to get it all down

7 DR MYERS Im sorry The bullet there

8 says Direct instruction individual and small

9 group instruction led by highly-qualified

10 teachers

11 MS ESPOSITO Say the page

12 MS BRADLEY Thats on Page 16 But its

13 just part of the -- its sort of an isolated

14 bullet but it doesnt explain it any further than

15 that You know it doesnt tell me that there is

16 going to be a pull-out portion

17 DR MYERS Right But as I stated I just

18 put a little piece in there because thats just a

19 little piece of the curriculum and thats why I

20 just mentioned a little piece of it there The

21 majority of it is an online based curriculum

22 MS HODGENS I have a question for the

23 school

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

25 MS HODGENS I am confused on the targeted

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1 population Im trying to get it on the motion

2 sheet so Im going to go to targeted population

3 first And I am a little confused on it because I

4 can read what you say on Page 12 And on Page 12

5 you talk about being open to all students and

6 then you talk about low-performing students and

7 then you go back to all students

8 And then when I go to Page 41 the curriculum

9 design you talk about students needing credit

10 recovery And then I continue on and I see AP

11 courses honor courses And again I dont want

12 to allude that I dont believe that kids can do

13 those courses but I want to understand what

14 population youre really looking at

15 DR MYERS Were looking at all students

16 within that demographic And within the

17 demographics it is a lower level You have lower

18 level one level two basically they are coming

19 from the downtown sector area within that 5-mile

20 radius area of the downtown

21 So when I say all students because a

22 charter school cannot deny a student from applying

23 or coming in all students are accepted if they

24 can meet transportation needs to come to school

25 So as I expressed to you thats what

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1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

Page 8: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

8

1 So I believe the way we have proposed it I

2 think is certainly consistent with the statutory

3 construct and theres no rule or statute that

4 would require us to do anything different

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counsel

6 I would agree with that I think the way

7 this Commission has historically operated -- I

8 mean we are certainly going to look at all of the

9 issues that currently -shy

10 MS HITCHCOCK Can you speak up

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes Jackie

12 Thank you very much counsel Given the way

13 that this Commission operates I dont see an

14 issue with continuing to operate the way we

15 usually do so your motion is denied So we will

16 continue with the way that we usually operate and

17 go through the various issues

18 Jackie if you would pass out the motion

19 sheets and then we can get started

20 All right We are going to get started So

21 again well give the school 15 minutes to present

22 your case and then well give the district the

23 same amount of time Again certainly being

24 succinct is appreciated

25 So with that proceed

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1 MS ALEXANDER I appreciate it Thank you

2 My name is Stephanie Alexander Im from the law

3 firm of Tripp Scott Im here today to represent

4 Stephen Biko Charter School

5 And with me to my right is Dr Greg Myers

6 Hes the principal and founder of the school and

7 also Joe Whitaker who is on the Board and he is

8 with the Jacksonville Economic Development

9 Council And if I could remember his long title

10 I would tell you what it is but Im sure that he

11 can do that

12 We all know what the law is in terms of the

13 standards so Im going to not really get into that

14 now And we also -- this isnt our first rodeo

15 Its getting late in the afternoon so Im not

16 going to go over it issue by issue in my opening

17 statement here Were going to do that as the

18 issues come up

19 But I wanted you all to understand the nature

20 of this charter school how it came about what

21 the status is of it today because I think thats

22 really important From our perspective the

23 overarching point is we think that -- and we think

24 that we will prove that the application should

25 have been granted And in fact it mirrors an

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1 application that Jacksonville -- Im sorry -- the

2 Duval County School Board actually approved the

3 year before So our opinion is that it should

4 have been sufficient it was sufficient the year

5 before and there really arent differences that

6 would account for the differences in treatment

7 But the more important point and which is

8 why I want you to understand how the charter

9 school got started where it is now and the

10 genesis of it is because I think that youll be

11 as impressed as I was to learn about the history

12 and what is going on now

13 And with that I would like to ask Dr Myers

14 to get up and give you a little five minutes about

15 where things are Thank you

16 DR MYERS Good afternoon everyone

17 Chairperson Board members Excuse me Im a

18 little tall

19 MS HITCHCOCK I think that we can probably

20 hear you Dr Myers you dont have to bend down

21 DR MYERS My name is Dr Myers Gregory

22 Myers educated at Duval County one of their

23 products with the school reared in Duval County

24 from elementary Originally from South America

25 came to the United States in 1968 immigrant

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1 parents West Indian mom Portuguese dad And it

2 was instilled to be the best in this world

3 I was a defiant kid had to be removed from

4 Duval County Public School System But it took a

5 principal that grabbed me and said that you are

6 the best and I believe in you And I went on and

7 graduated from high school received a football

8 scholarship went on to college graduated played

9 some professional football and returned back to

10 receive my masters degree my PhD in health

11 care administration

12 And I wanted to give something back to this

13 county that I represented and I saw a school that

14 was so vibrant and God touched me to say that

15 thats what I want you to do This is all about

16 this building Thats what this whole issue is

17 about Its about this great building the

18 oldest historical African-American high school in

19 the United States

20 They feel as though that Im going to take

21 their kids but this school is about every child

22 in Duval County Ive been granted the

23 opportunity by all the former mayors and the mayor

24 of Jacksonville to succeed in this because they

25 believe in me as an individual as an

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1 African-American to the community and one that

2 can put this together I would be blessed to have

3 a great partner of Joe Whitaker who has worked

4 with me diligently on this

5 The school is open now Weve opened as a

6 private school We had our first graduate this

7 December that went through all of the standards of

8 Duval County She came to us from a failing

9 school a failing school that was not progressing

10 But now she went from scoring a 14 on the ACT to a

11 19 That says that were doing something

12 We have up to 35 kids that are accelerating

13 using a curriculum called APEX curriculum which

14 is in their county They fostered the curriculum

15 Whats wrong with it Nothing

16 I know Im speaking but Im speaking from my

17 heart because this touches me Im one of theirs

18 educator and I have to be treated like this It

19 is wrong and thats how I feel because Im only

20 speaking from my heart And it hurts me today it

21 all hurts me All of this is for -- because this

22 is mirrored off an application that they approved

23 last year last year they approved this

24 application

25 So why should I have to be subject to what

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1 Im going through And it is wrong And Im only

2 speaking from my heart You cant throw me in the

3 garbage can speaking from my heart thats what

4 Im doing today

5 And Im just asking you to give me the

6 opportunity to show these individuals from my

7 county that I can be successful I am being

8 successful with these kids Im doing a great

9 job And former Mayor Delaney he inspired me to

10 do this because he said Greg you are passionate

11 Most individuals that open up charter schools open

12 them up for the wrong reasons they open them up

13 for funds I opening up because I love kids and I

14 want to change lives because Im tired of seeing

15 children go into the prison system and Im tired

16 of seeing children going wayward

17 The young lady that finished our school

18 shes now attending Virginia College received a

19 full scholarship Thats what this is all about

20 And if it could change my life imagine how it

21 could change other lives

22 So thats why it makes me upset it makes me

23 angry because Ive been going through this and

24 its all about this beautiful building Old

25 Stanton High School located right behind the new

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1 courthouse Thats what its all about All this

2 is is just a dog and pony show this is what its

3 about because they feel as though Im going to

4 take the kids from (inaudible) and Andrew Jackson

5 Thank you so much for listening to me and

6 Ill be responding to your questions

7 MS ALEXANDER As you can tell hes very

8 passionate about his school And he was in fact

9 urged by former Mayor Delaney to start the charter

10 school

11 And the building that hes showing and

12 referring to is actually right behind -- as he

13 said its right behind the brand new courthouse

14 And in fact the development authority which Joe

15 Whitaker will speak to has actually pledged funds

16 to refurbish the building And thats where the

17 charter school will be housed

18 And all of those plans are in place but in

19 fact because we dont have charter school

20 approval we cant go forward and get the funds to

21 rehab the school thats right behind the

22 courthouse in downtown Its part of the

23 revitalization district of downtown Jacksonville

24 What he forgot to stay was not only was he a

25 product of the education system in Jacksonville

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1 but he taught in the Duval County Schools for

2 many many years He was a football coach he was

3 a teacher he was an assistant principle he was a

4 principal in fact he ran three Drop In Academy

5 Schools in Duval before in fact deciding to open

6 up the new charter school at the urgence of former

7 Mayor John Delaney who is in fact on his Board

8 and as you all know is now the current President

9 of the University of North Florida So thats

10 really the backdrop of this

11 And Im going to turn it over to Joe

12 Whitaker who is on the Board and will give you a

13 little sense of whats going on with the building

14 so you get a sense of the whole background here

15 Thanks

16 MR WHITAKER Good afternoon My name is

17 Joe Whitaker and Im with the Mayors Office of

18 Economic Development for the City of Jacksonville

19 And I got intrigued by Mr Myers desire to open

20 up a charter school because I ran a loan program

21 for the City and I assisted him in another project

22 that he did to put something back into his

23 neighborhood So Ive watched him and Ive seen

24 his passion and his energy for getting things

25 done

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1 And one of the things that I admire about

2 Dr Myers is that he does what he says hes going

3 to do when he says hes going to do it And

4 thats fairly rare in my opinion

5 I would like to just clear up any other

6 misunderstandings The City of Jacksonville has

7 yet not pledged funds for his project until we

8 have a charter school designation so that we dont

9 waste a lot of time trying to raise money But

10 essentially the Old Stanton High School was built

11 in 1901 and it is now just a shell and it is

12 governed by a not-for-profit Board And we have

13 achieved the first step of the goal and that is

14 they have given us site control

15 So we do have the ability if were granted a

16 charter to be able to go out then and raise the

17 funds to be able to rehabilitate this building and

18 actually put upwards of 400 young students in

19 there in high school

20 And we dont have a high school in downtown

21 Jacksonville and we believe that this opportunity

22 to redevelop the Old Stanton building is a

23 worthwhile endeavor on behalf of our redevelopment

24 efforts and were anxious to do that

25 We have put together a Board that we believe

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1 has the fundraising capacity to be able to

2 generate enough private capital to get this kicked

3 off And the City of Jacksonville has an historic

4 loan fund that we have the ability to be able to

5 get some money from to finish the product And we

6 think its going to be a success

7 Downtown Jacksonville is going through its

8 own renaissance We have people moving downtown

9 and were bringing more retail downtown and our

10 Mayor is focused on rebuilding downtown So we

11 believe that we have an opportunity to be

12 successful

13 I chose to volunteer to be on Gregs Board

14 because I believe in him And we have been

15 working to get other prominent people in the

16 community on this Board so that we can make a

17 difference Thats what this is all about

18 As an economic development professional with

19 the City of Jacksonville for the last 30 years

20 Ive been involved in a lot of projects 156

21 projects since 2001 and weve generated private

22 capital investments of $14 million and weve

23 created 15000 jobs So the group that Im

24 working with we believe that this is achievable

25 But the first step is to get site control we

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1 have that Now the next step is we get the

2 charter then we have the ability to be able to

3 raise the funds you know to put this project

4 together Ill be happy to answer any questions

5 you may have

6 MS ALEXANDER Given that the school has

7 already opened and is successfully educating

8 students we believe that there wasnt good cause

9 in fact to deny the application and we will be

10 happy to answer any questions with respect to the

11 specific categories I just didnt want to go

12 through them twice given that its late in the

13 day So I just wanted to give you a background

14 thats where we are And we respectfully request

15 that you grant our appeal and thank you very

16 much

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

18 Representatives for the district

19 MR McDUFFIE Thank you members of the

20 Commission Again my name is Brian McDuffie

21 Im Executive Director for Policy and Compliance

22 with Duval County Public Schools

23 With me to my left is Ms Jackie Bowen

24 Executive Director for Academic Services

25 Ms Angela Heiney who is Coordinator of Financial

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1 Reporting We also have Karen Chastain who is

2 Chief Legal Officer for the district as well as

3 Shanita Roper and Anita Henry-Smith who are from

4 our charter schools office

5 The first thing that I want to touch upon is

6 the charter school climate in Duval County We

7 approved 13 out of 15 applications that went to

8 the Board during this last cycle We currently

9 have 21 charter schools operating in Duval County

10 And I think if every application or every

11 applicant that had good intentions had their

12 charter school approved there would be an

13 overwhelming number of charter schools It is not

14 necessarily about worthwhile intentions

15 And there has never been any question on our

16 part about the integrity of the people trying to

17 start this charter school none whatsoever They

18 appear to be good people with good intentions It

19 is not about that It is also not about

20 redeveloping downtown Jacksonville It is about

21 the children

22 And thats what we have been given the task

23 of doing as a sponsor to look and make sure that

24 when these applications come in that the children

25 are protected

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1 What Im going to do today is basically

2 provide the Commission with a slight overview with

3 respect to Issue 2 Ms Heiney will talk with

4 respect to Issue 3 And Ms Bowen will talk with

5 respect to Issue 1 just as an overview

6 So moving to Issue 2 governance the first

7 thing -- again keep within the time

8 constraints -- as a highlight the applicant is a

9 private school That in and on its face is a

10 reason for denial If you look at Florida

11 Statutes 100233(3)(b) a private school cannot be

12 a charter school

13 Moving on to management With respect to the

14 management section we were provided with

15 essentially a lot of vague information They

16 failed to give the management structure job

17 descriptions for teachers the administrative

18 positions They failed to give criteria as to how

19 they were going to select teachers And they also

20 failed to describe how they were going to monitor

21 teacher certification as well as how to fill

22 status

23 Based on these measures with respect to

24 Issue 2 under governance and management we feel

25 that the School Board had competent substantial

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1 evidence and good cause to deny the application

2 And next to speak will be Ms Jackie Bowen

3 MS BOWEN Good afternoon Im Jacqueline

4 Bowen the Academic Services Executive Director

5 I do appreciate the applicants passion for

6 students thats why Im here But I would also

7 like to reiterate as our counsel has said that I

8 am not a historical resident of Jacksonville And

9 as we review applications I have no knowledge of

10 many of the historical factors or the political

11 things that are behind it having only been in the

12 city for 12 years My goal and every analysis or

13 review of the complete instructional plan is that

14 it benefit children

15 So in reviewing the actual application there

16 were great deficiencies in the areas of the

17 guiding principles the targeted population was

18 very unclear the education program design the

19 curriculum plan the student performance

20 assessments evaluation the actual educational

21 supporting plan for the ESE population as well as

22 ELL students

23 So for example within this application

24 its supposed to provide any reader or reviewer a

25 very clear picture of what a student will need to

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1 do and what they will experience as they are

2 attending that institution meaning that I should

3 have an understanding of the applicant And the

4 applicant was real clear that he wanted to

5 provide the whole child and provide that

6 experience

7 But it didnt give me a clear understanding

8 or the reviewers upon my team about the

9 structure how the things that were identified

10 were truly going to support and guide teachers

11 decisions to make sure theyre meeting the

12 standards of the NGSS and the Common Core and

13 ultimately graduating

14 The application was indistinguishable between

15 the targeted population because at one point it

16 talked about at-risk students from a particular

17 5-mile geographic dynamics and then it said all

18 students no matter what according to the

19 standard of expectation

20 The applicant briefly described a pre-med

21 program a dual enrollment advanced placement

22 classes And the appeal reiterated the error by

23 describing instructional programs and learning

24 strategies but they failed to provide a clear

25 picture as to how you were going to take

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1 struggling students or any student to that

2 advanced and rigorous curriculum

3 And as we can say that the standard requires

4 the application to explain not only what the

5 school is going to teach but how they were going

6 to teach it I was continually searching which

7 Im not required to do throughout the entire

8 application to see how was this instruction going

9 to be -- what is that child going to experience on

10 a daily basis And it was very unclear

11 Statute 100233 also states that the charter

12 application must have a detailed curriculum plan

13 a curriculum plan not a curriculum resource a

14 plan for instruction that illustrates how those

15 students are going to be provided services to meet

16 those graduation requirements We are in the

17 business of graduating students

18 So the application also didnt provide a very

19 clear reading curriculum They referenced the

20 Just Read Florida Website which Im very happy

21 that they were there supporting but it is a

22 resource document it does not outline a

23 curriculum plan And unfortunately -- and Im

24 saying this in this building -- it really only

25 sports primary education When you get towards

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1 secondary the resources become very limited And

2 I know theyre working on that

3 So the statute requires that we deny the

4 application on the fact that the reading

5 curriculum plan was not sufficient at all

6 Another key issue that was concerning which

7 led to a good cause denial of the application was

8 that a risk of students not being prepared for the

9 FCAT Because they identified assessments which

10 Im very familiar with failed to have the

11 measuring tools that would guide teacher

12 instruction in being able to support deficiencies

13 or make accommodations or get those students ready

14 for that you know accelerated dual enrollment

15 advanced AP or pre-med curriculum

16 Im going to wrap it up because I know

17 everybody is ready to go When we talk about our

18 ELL students and we are doing a lot within our

19 districts to better support all students there

20 was really -- I struggled with finding out how the

21 students were going to enter our school And an

22 ELL student is just one designation because you

23 can have an ELL student that also has an ESE

24 designation and has some little deficiencies in

25 particular other areas

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1 There was no -- they failed to demonstrate

2 how they were going to make choices of selecting

3 the appropriate materials to meet the needs of all

4 students

5 To say we will select resources but there

6 was no clear indication of how those decisions

7 would be made The assessments didnt provide

8 that detailed information to guide that choice so

9 upon that there was no reason but to have a good

10 cause for denial

11 MS HEINEY Good afternoon My name is

12 Angela Heiney H-e-i-n-e-y and I reviewed the

13 business plan for the applicant As an overview

14 the entire business plan did not meet the standard

15 with the exception of the transportation which

16 only partially met the standard

17 There were quite a few reasons that we found

18 for this The biggest -- there were statutory

19 failures all over the place 100233(6)(a)5

20 states that there has to be an annual financial

21 plan based on projected revenues and expenditures

22 What we found is that the revenues and

23 expenditures provided were unsubstantiated

24 unsupported and there was missing money all over

25 the place For example on Page 107 the

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1 applicant states theyre going to take out

2 $500000 in loans to fund their startup however

3 if you look at their five-year business plan

4 there is no repayment for those loans And they

5 provided absolutely no correspondence from any

6 lending institution that says theyre willing to

7 give half a million dollars and not expect a penny

8 back for over five years In this current

9 economic climate that rarely if ever happens

10 Ive never seen it

11 The application and the denial or the

12 response to the denial that was filed -- the

13 notice of appeal -- there were several points that

14 were made in our denial however they never even

15 discussed those

16 For example the application specifically

17 states that they plan on contracting out HR and

18 accounting services however they dont know how

19 much it is so they didnt even include that in

20 their budget For some of our schools that is

21 thousands and thousands of dollars a year just

22 missing

23 Theres inconsistencies Mr Whitaker just

24 stated that the City of Jacksonville has not

25 promised the money However Page 104 states that

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1 they have a verbal commitment There is no

2 evidence of any commitment no letters from former

3 Mayor Delaney no letters from current Mayor

4 Browns office anybody even suggesting that they

5 know who this school is and that theyre willing

6 to support it

7 A second statutory failing occurs again in

8 (6)(a)5 where it states that the application must

9 have a description of controls that safeguard

10 financing

11 During the general help session the

12 applicants were told they must give detailed

13 procedures on certain areas Why Because these

14 are the areas that consistently have fraud

15 errors thefts mistakes We dont like to

16 believe that will happen at schools but frankly

17 bad things do happen

18 They were told you must have accounts

19 payables accounts receivables cash management

20 payroll those areas Why This is where weve

21 seen problems happen There was nothing There

22 was some general policy given on Pages 113 and 14

23 And they state on Page 113 there will be

24 implementation of many internal financial

25 controls however that is not a description of

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1 controls which is what is mandated by the

2 statute

3 Another failing occurs on Statute 21839

4 This statute mandates the use of an independent

5 certified public account for performing annual

6 financial reporting so the audited financial

7 statements which are required

8 In Attachment 7 it states that the same

9 person providing accounting services will also

10 perform the auditing services According to the

11 American Institute of CPAs this is actually a

12 violation of independence and an ethics violation

13 itself So anybody who is willing to do both is

14 not by statute an independent auditor And they

15 have stated in their application thats what

16 theyre going to do

17 When you see one statutory violation that is

18 certainly competent and substantial evidence for

19 denial When you see at least three just in one

20 section now were getting overwhelming grounds

21 for denial

22 But we also saw areas in the facilities where

23 they simply state that they will meet statute

24 Saying youre going to meet statute is not the

25 same as explaining what youre going to do

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1 Theyre stating in their financials that theyre

2 going to have $3 million worth of renovations

3 What on earth are you going to do for $3 million

4 Mr Whitaker stated that the building is just

5 a shell However the application states that it

6 is currently being in use by a daycare for the

7 Urban League So whats going on Theres no

8 consistency between whats being said whats

9 being done in the application

10 In that stance we do not make assumptions

11 We must go with what is written So any verbal

12 statements we cant justify that because all we

13 can hold the applicant to is what has been written

14 in that document

15 We have a problem with food service They

16 state that theyre not going to use NSLP and

17 theyre going to contract a vendor which is

18 perfectly acceptable except their target

19 population is going to be children that are at

20 risk Specifically this is a very high population

21 of children who will qualify for free and reduced

22 lunch What about the kids that cant pay for

23 their food what are they going to do all day in

24 class We cant starve children thats wrong

25 Theres no money in the budget for -shy

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

2 MS HEINEY Im sorry

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

4 MS HEINEY Theres no money in the budget

5 for food so theres no money theres no plan

6 And this is an area that has direct effect on

7 health and well-being of the children

8 The action plan that they gave is completely

9 unrealistic and does not meet up against their

10 academic standards For example they state that

11 theyre going to use Achieve 3000 Achieve 3000

12 is a difficult product to use It does require

13 training

14 And the startup budget and the statement of

15 cash flow is there is no money whatsoever for

16 teacher training So are these teachers supposed

17 to walk in on their first day knowing how to use

18 it The action plan says theres going to be

19 training but theres no money for it so how are

20 you going do it As I said theres quite a bit

21 of reasons And if you have any questions we

22 would be more than happy to respond

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay This takes us to

24 Issue 1 whether the applicant failed to comply

25 with the educational plan regarding guiding

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1 principles target population educational program

2 design curriculum plan student performance

3 assessment and evaluation exceptional students

4 and English language learners

5 So the school if you want to have a couple

6 of minutes to speak directly to the educational

7 plan and then well give the district the same

8 amount of time

9 MS ALEXANDER Sure With respect to the

10 mission statement we believe that the denial was

11 not supported by competent substantial evidence in

12 any way For example the School Board alleges

13 that we didnt provide an adequate mission

14 statement or describe how the school utilizes

15 guiding principles

16 As you can kind of get the sense from hearing

17 Dr Myers hes got a pretty sophisticated sense

18 of mission And with respect to the mission

19 statement the application specifically says on

20 Page 4 The mission statement of the charter high

21 school is to provide an exemplary personalized

22 learning program in a supportive resource rich

23 contemporary learning environment Stephen Biko

24 Charter High School is dedicated to excellence and

25 committed to nurturing passionate lifelong

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1 learners

2 It also says that The school will meet the

3 high standards of student achievement by

4 supporting positive academic outcomes for students

5 by addressing the academic social economical -shy

6 Im sorry -- emotional and behavioral needs of

7 enrolled students And it says that High

8 standards will be evident which will offer parents

9 and guardians of students currently attending the

10 elementary and charter schools of Duval County the

11 flexibility to choose the school

12 So our view is that if you actually look at

13 the application there is a specific mission its

14 very clear and in fact weve met the standard

15 Just as an aside there was a reference to a

16 private school cant be a charter school

17 Dr Myers started the private school on donations

18 alone in the interim because he wanted to try to

19 start offering education to the average students

20 as quickly as possible He consulted with the DOE

21 and was told that in fact he could open up the

22 school and that if the charter is granted he

23 could transition from the private school into the

24 charter model so there isnt any prohibition

25 against how hes doing it

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1 But our view is if you look at the

2 application there is a clear mission its

3 outlined there and it did meet the standard So

4 thank you

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

6 District

7 DR MYERS Can I

8 CHAIRMAN CHU You have about 30 seconds

9 DR MYERS Thank you I contacted the

10 Department of Education and they expressed to me

11 that I have to close the school and once I close

12 the school every child has to apply So that was

13 done prior to opening up the private school

14 As they stated theres nowhere in that

15 application where it states (inaudible) So all

16 of these things are preposterous in what theyre

17 saying and its just things that theyre trying

18 to elaborate to make the application look bad

19 As I expressed to you Board members this

20 application was approved similar last year It

21 was the exact application So everything that

22 shes coming up with and all three of them does

23 not make sense it does not It does not weigh

24 this application God knows it does not And

25 they cannot give you sufficient reasons why

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1 Thats why they come in with all of these

2 fictitious false allegations against this

3 application Thats all theyre doing They

4 approved this application last year they did

5 And thats all Im asking for

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right District

7 MR McDUFFIE Just briefly and I will turn

8 the mic over to Ms Bowen

9 This is the second time youve heard that

10 there was a mirror application from last year I

11 would like to ask the Commission to go to Page 39

12 of the application There is a specific provision

13 in the application which says if the school

14 intends to replicate an existing school design

15 you are supposed to notify the district under E

16 and F in that section

17 In their application that section is blank

18 okay So they are replicating an existing school

19 design they did not notify us of that in the

20 application

21 And secondly that also takes away the

22 innovative factor of the school If theyre

23 replicating an existing school what is innovative

24 about their charter school

25 Just briefly again with respect to that

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1 private school the application is in the name of

2 Stephen Biko Private Charter School so it is a

3 private school that is making the application

4 MS BOWEN I would just like to add that if

5 there was an application that was approved last

6 year within the past five years we would be glad

7 to go back and look if theres a name thats

8 submitted for us to do reference But when we

9 looked through all of our prior applications we

10 could find no areas where there was similar an

11 exact model of an approved application that had

12 already been approved by the district

13 But to respond to point one as far as the

14 guiding principle section the mission statement

15 was general it was vague and it did not describe

16 meaningful or measurable priority It

17 inefficiently defines the values of the school and

18 was inconsistent with the appellants subsequent

19 educational program plan The question of the

20 guidance embedded within question one clearly says

21 that it should explain what the school intends to

22 do for whom and to what degree And I failed to

23 be able to fully answer all of those questions by

24 reading the statement

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Were going to have a QampA

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1 session so what were going to do now is let me

2 ask the Commission members do you have any

3 questions

4 MS BRUBAKER I would like to hear how

5 you -shy

6 DR MYERS Me

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes Dr Myers How you plan

8 on taking those low performing students to be able

9 to do dual enrollment or AP classes

10 DR MYERS Well first of all as those

11 students arrive in the school various testing

12 will be done on those students TABE testing also

13 WRAT4 testing and various things We would look

14 at the matrix of where the kid came from

15 We have a child now that came to us Georgia

16 from one of the schools in Georgia where he was

17 functioning at a lower level The WRAT4 which is

18 designed to motivate the child and test the child

19 TABE test then we get a matrix from that and we

20 set a curriculum for -- excuse me -- we set the

21 curriculum for the child give the child

22 appropriate courses that the child has already

23 taken or retake again

24 So we move the child in small groups which

25 would be one-on-one learning or it could be group

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1 learning activities The chairs in the classroom

2 are set up and a table where one to one and one to

3 one where the child can model the other child and

4 move forward

5 The APEX curriculum which is used in Duval

6 County Public Schools they just finished using

7 the APEX curriculum in one of their failing

8 schools which moved -- increased the grade two

9 grades -- I think one or two grades at Andrew

10 Jackson High School They have the APEX They

11 have several schools in Duval County thats using

12 the APEX curriculum So its a Florida curriculum

13 that is being used

14 As they expressed the application -- when I

15 looked at the application since I was using the

16 APEX curriculum I said okay why not modify this

17 and put it back into context where its being

18 used So what were doing is we just wrote the

19 application in regards to what they wanted They

20 wanted APEX We put the APEX in there Its a

21 proven fact that its successful in their public

22 schools

23 MS ALEXANDER Can you answer her questions

24 I think which is how you are going to move the low

25 learners up to eventually taking the AP test

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1 DR MYERS Right Im sorry I know I only

2 have a few more minutes or a few seconds But

3 eventually as they progress in each area in math

4 science social studies then we test again So

5 we test at the beginning test at the end

6 And as they -- at the midterm level it tells

7 us whether or not theyre going to be remediated

8 in the course or move forward As they move

9 forward we get the curriculum more rigorous again

10 for them and the next course which is in line so

11 basically one on one and group learning is

12 efficient for them Theyre going to have to take

13 the same courses but if theyre testing at lower

14 levels thats where the individualized

15 instruction will help them

16 Did I answer it

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

18 respond to that

19 MR McDUFFIE Ms Bowen would like to

20 respond But I just want to make it also clear

21 that that -- what was just explained verbally is

22 not in the application

23 MS BOWEN The APEX curriculum is about a

24 curriculum for a set population of students as

25 well as the TABE Assessment they test and measure

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1 students basic skills The expectation under the

2 Common Core the FCAT 20 far exceeds that

3 curriculum And yes we have used it with some

4 of our most lowest performing students and Andrew

5 Jackson did make some gains but they still have

6 19 percent of their students are reading

7 proficiently

8 So my concern is with that curriculum I know

9 that there is something that you needed to have a

10 better indication that was going to provide the

11 teacher with a clear pathway of how to meet those

12 gaps By giving me an assessment thats only

13 measuring my minimum skills it does not

14 demonstrate the expectation of the Lexile level

15 thats required for a college entrance And on

16 Page 39 of his application it clearly states for

17 students who are interested in pre-med coursework

18 The expectation for reading cannot be

19 provided with the diagnosis information that you

20 get with a TABE Assessment or an APEX curriculum

21 Page 10 -- Im sorry I said Page 39 its stuck

22 in my head for some reason -- but on Page 10 it

23 talks about pre-med students and the other

24 innovative -- because thats what hes saying

25 its one of the innovative factors of this

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1 program

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you Are there other

3 questions from the Commission members

4 MS BRADLEY I have a question

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Verdya

6 MS BRADLEY My question is for the school

7 the applicant Is this a solely online program

8 DR MYERS No maam Its basically online

9 and direct instruction

10 MS BRADLEY Do you discuss direct

11 instruction in here

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY The reason that I ask that

14 question is the questions in the application asks

15 specifically for a description of the curriculum

16 a description of the reading program And in your

17 responses your responses pretty much tie back to

18 the APEX curriculum so it appears that it is

19 solely reliant on And then all of the

20 documentation that you gave was from the APEX

21 program So I was just wondering is it just

22 solely online

23 DR MYERS The majority of it but theres a

24 piece where the direct instruction is in place

25 with the child because the children are culled

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1 out for the particular course learning for the

2 subject area that theyre doing The regular

3 curriculum comes in -- the APEX Lexile learning

4 comes in Everything is designed where its

5 implemented on the laptop for the child If the

6 child needs direct instruction the child is

7 culled out into an environment where he or she

8 receives the one-on-one instruction

9 MS BRADLEY Did you discuss that in here

10 DR MYERS Im pretty sure I did

11 MS ALEXANDER What page are you looking at

12 for these

13 MS BRADLEY Well it kind of goes back and

14 forth It starts on Page 16 where it starts

15 talking about the educational program and then it

16 gives me probably about 20 30 pages on APEX and

17 then it goes into the reading curriculum But Im

18 not seeing anywhere where theres any supplement

19 to that

20 Because even the question on Page 16 was

21 Describe the proposed reading or educational

22 program it sort of goes through elements of the

23 APEX program Then on Page 68 it says Describe

24 the reading curriculum

25 DR MYERS Yes maam If you look at

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1 the -shy

2 MS HITCHCOCK Stand up please

3 DR MYERS Im sorry

4 CHAIRMAN CHU If you could come to the mic

5 that would be very helpful because our court

6 reporter is trying to get it all down

7 DR MYERS Im sorry The bullet there

8 says Direct instruction individual and small

9 group instruction led by highly-qualified

10 teachers

11 MS ESPOSITO Say the page

12 MS BRADLEY Thats on Page 16 But its

13 just part of the -- its sort of an isolated

14 bullet but it doesnt explain it any further than

15 that You know it doesnt tell me that there is

16 going to be a pull-out portion

17 DR MYERS Right But as I stated I just

18 put a little piece in there because thats just a

19 little piece of the curriculum and thats why I

20 just mentioned a little piece of it there The

21 majority of it is an online based curriculum

22 MS HODGENS I have a question for the

23 school

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

25 MS HODGENS I am confused on the targeted

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1 population Im trying to get it on the motion

2 sheet so Im going to go to targeted population

3 first And I am a little confused on it because I

4 can read what you say on Page 12 And on Page 12

5 you talk about being open to all students and

6 then you talk about low-performing students and

7 then you go back to all students

8 And then when I go to Page 41 the curriculum

9 design you talk about students needing credit

10 recovery And then I continue on and I see AP

11 courses honor courses And again I dont want

12 to allude that I dont believe that kids can do

13 those courses but I want to understand what

14 population youre really looking at

15 DR MYERS Were looking at all students

16 within that demographic And within the

17 demographics it is a lower level You have lower

18 level one level two basically they are coming

19 from the downtown sector area within that 5-mile

20 radius area of the downtown

21 So when I say all students because a

22 charter school cannot deny a student from applying

23 or coming in all students are accepted if they

24 can meet transportation needs to come to school

25 So as I expressed to you thats what

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1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

Page 9: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

9

1 MS ALEXANDER I appreciate it Thank you

2 My name is Stephanie Alexander Im from the law

3 firm of Tripp Scott Im here today to represent

4 Stephen Biko Charter School

5 And with me to my right is Dr Greg Myers

6 Hes the principal and founder of the school and

7 also Joe Whitaker who is on the Board and he is

8 with the Jacksonville Economic Development

9 Council And if I could remember his long title

10 I would tell you what it is but Im sure that he

11 can do that

12 We all know what the law is in terms of the

13 standards so Im going to not really get into that

14 now And we also -- this isnt our first rodeo

15 Its getting late in the afternoon so Im not

16 going to go over it issue by issue in my opening

17 statement here Were going to do that as the

18 issues come up

19 But I wanted you all to understand the nature

20 of this charter school how it came about what

21 the status is of it today because I think thats

22 really important From our perspective the

23 overarching point is we think that -- and we think

24 that we will prove that the application should

25 have been granted And in fact it mirrors an

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1 application that Jacksonville -- Im sorry -- the

2 Duval County School Board actually approved the

3 year before So our opinion is that it should

4 have been sufficient it was sufficient the year

5 before and there really arent differences that

6 would account for the differences in treatment

7 But the more important point and which is

8 why I want you to understand how the charter

9 school got started where it is now and the

10 genesis of it is because I think that youll be

11 as impressed as I was to learn about the history

12 and what is going on now

13 And with that I would like to ask Dr Myers

14 to get up and give you a little five minutes about

15 where things are Thank you

16 DR MYERS Good afternoon everyone

17 Chairperson Board members Excuse me Im a

18 little tall

19 MS HITCHCOCK I think that we can probably

20 hear you Dr Myers you dont have to bend down

21 DR MYERS My name is Dr Myers Gregory

22 Myers educated at Duval County one of their

23 products with the school reared in Duval County

24 from elementary Originally from South America

25 came to the United States in 1968 immigrant

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1 parents West Indian mom Portuguese dad And it

2 was instilled to be the best in this world

3 I was a defiant kid had to be removed from

4 Duval County Public School System But it took a

5 principal that grabbed me and said that you are

6 the best and I believe in you And I went on and

7 graduated from high school received a football

8 scholarship went on to college graduated played

9 some professional football and returned back to

10 receive my masters degree my PhD in health

11 care administration

12 And I wanted to give something back to this

13 county that I represented and I saw a school that

14 was so vibrant and God touched me to say that

15 thats what I want you to do This is all about

16 this building Thats what this whole issue is

17 about Its about this great building the

18 oldest historical African-American high school in

19 the United States

20 They feel as though that Im going to take

21 their kids but this school is about every child

22 in Duval County Ive been granted the

23 opportunity by all the former mayors and the mayor

24 of Jacksonville to succeed in this because they

25 believe in me as an individual as an

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1 African-American to the community and one that

2 can put this together I would be blessed to have

3 a great partner of Joe Whitaker who has worked

4 with me diligently on this

5 The school is open now Weve opened as a

6 private school We had our first graduate this

7 December that went through all of the standards of

8 Duval County She came to us from a failing

9 school a failing school that was not progressing

10 But now she went from scoring a 14 on the ACT to a

11 19 That says that were doing something

12 We have up to 35 kids that are accelerating

13 using a curriculum called APEX curriculum which

14 is in their county They fostered the curriculum

15 Whats wrong with it Nothing

16 I know Im speaking but Im speaking from my

17 heart because this touches me Im one of theirs

18 educator and I have to be treated like this It

19 is wrong and thats how I feel because Im only

20 speaking from my heart And it hurts me today it

21 all hurts me All of this is for -- because this

22 is mirrored off an application that they approved

23 last year last year they approved this

24 application

25 So why should I have to be subject to what

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1 Im going through And it is wrong And Im only

2 speaking from my heart You cant throw me in the

3 garbage can speaking from my heart thats what

4 Im doing today

5 And Im just asking you to give me the

6 opportunity to show these individuals from my

7 county that I can be successful I am being

8 successful with these kids Im doing a great

9 job And former Mayor Delaney he inspired me to

10 do this because he said Greg you are passionate

11 Most individuals that open up charter schools open

12 them up for the wrong reasons they open them up

13 for funds I opening up because I love kids and I

14 want to change lives because Im tired of seeing

15 children go into the prison system and Im tired

16 of seeing children going wayward

17 The young lady that finished our school

18 shes now attending Virginia College received a

19 full scholarship Thats what this is all about

20 And if it could change my life imagine how it

21 could change other lives

22 So thats why it makes me upset it makes me

23 angry because Ive been going through this and

24 its all about this beautiful building Old

25 Stanton High School located right behind the new

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1 courthouse Thats what its all about All this

2 is is just a dog and pony show this is what its

3 about because they feel as though Im going to

4 take the kids from (inaudible) and Andrew Jackson

5 Thank you so much for listening to me and

6 Ill be responding to your questions

7 MS ALEXANDER As you can tell hes very

8 passionate about his school And he was in fact

9 urged by former Mayor Delaney to start the charter

10 school

11 And the building that hes showing and

12 referring to is actually right behind -- as he

13 said its right behind the brand new courthouse

14 And in fact the development authority which Joe

15 Whitaker will speak to has actually pledged funds

16 to refurbish the building And thats where the

17 charter school will be housed

18 And all of those plans are in place but in

19 fact because we dont have charter school

20 approval we cant go forward and get the funds to

21 rehab the school thats right behind the

22 courthouse in downtown Its part of the

23 revitalization district of downtown Jacksonville

24 What he forgot to stay was not only was he a

25 product of the education system in Jacksonville

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1 but he taught in the Duval County Schools for

2 many many years He was a football coach he was

3 a teacher he was an assistant principle he was a

4 principal in fact he ran three Drop In Academy

5 Schools in Duval before in fact deciding to open

6 up the new charter school at the urgence of former

7 Mayor John Delaney who is in fact on his Board

8 and as you all know is now the current President

9 of the University of North Florida So thats

10 really the backdrop of this

11 And Im going to turn it over to Joe

12 Whitaker who is on the Board and will give you a

13 little sense of whats going on with the building

14 so you get a sense of the whole background here

15 Thanks

16 MR WHITAKER Good afternoon My name is

17 Joe Whitaker and Im with the Mayors Office of

18 Economic Development for the City of Jacksonville

19 And I got intrigued by Mr Myers desire to open

20 up a charter school because I ran a loan program

21 for the City and I assisted him in another project

22 that he did to put something back into his

23 neighborhood So Ive watched him and Ive seen

24 his passion and his energy for getting things

25 done

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1 And one of the things that I admire about

2 Dr Myers is that he does what he says hes going

3 to do when he says hes going to do it And

4 thats fairly rare in my opinion

5 I would like to just clear up any other

6 misunderstandings The City of Jacksonville has

7 yet not pledged funds for his project until we

8 have a charter school designation so that we dont

9 waste a lot of time trying to raise money But

10 essentially the Old Stanton High School was built

11 in 1901 and it is now just a shell and it is

12 governed by a not-for-profit Board And we have

13 achieved the first step of the goal and that is

14 they have given us site control

15 So we do have the ability if were granted a

16 charter to be able to go out then and raise the

17 funds to be able to rehabilitate this building and

18 actually put upwards of 400 young students in

19 there in high school

20 And we dont have a high school in downtown

21 Jacksonville and we believe that this opportunity

22 to redevelop the Old Stanton building is a

23 worthwhile endeavor on behalf of our redevelopment

24 efforts and were anxious to do that

25 We have put together a Board that we believe

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1 has the fundraising capacity to be able to

2 generate enough private capital to get this kicked

3 off And the City of Jacksonville has an historic

4 loan fund that we have the ability to be able to

5 get some money from to finish the product And we

6 think its going to be a success

7 Downtown Jacksonville is going through its

8 own renaissance We have people moving downtown

9 and were bringing more retail downtown and our

10 Mayor is focused on rebuilding downtown So we

11 believe that we have an opportunity to be

12 successful

13 I chose to volunteer to be on Gregs Board

14 because I believe in him And we have been

15 working to get other prominent people in the

16 community on this Board so that we can make a

17 difference Thats what this is all about

18 As an economic development professional with

19 the City of Jacksonville for the last 30 years

20 Ive been involved in a lot of projects 156

21 projects since 2001 and weve generated private

22 capital investments of $14 million and weve

23 created 15000 jobs So the group that Im

24 working with we believe that this is achievable

25 But the first step is to get site control we

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1 have that Now the next step is we get the

2 charter then we have the ability to be able to

3 raise the funds you know to put this project

4 together Ill be happy to answer any questions

5 you may have

6 MS ALEXANDER Given that the school has

7 already opened and is successfully educating

8 students we believe that there wasnt good cause

9 in fact to deny the application and we will be

10 happy to answer any questions with respect to the

11 specific categories I just didnt want to go

12 through them twice given that its late in the

13 day So I just wanted to give you a background

14 thats where we are And we respectfully request

15 that you grant our appeal and thank you very

16 much

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

18 Representatives for the district

19 MR McDUFFIE Thank you members of the

20 Commission Again my name is Brian McDuffie

21 Im Executive Director for Policy and Compliance

22 with Duval County Public Schools

23 With me to my left is Ms Jackie Bowen

24 Executive Director for Academic Services

25 Ms Angela Heiney who is Coordinator of Financial

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1 Reporting We also have Karen Chastain who is

2 Chief Legal Officer for the district as well as

3 Shanita Roper and Anita Henry-Smith who are from

4 our charter schools office

5 The first thing that I want to touch upon is

6 the charter school climate in Duval County We

7 approved 13 out of 15 applications that went to

8 the Board during this last cycle We currently

9 have 21 charter schools operating in Duval County

10 And I think if every application or every

11 applicant that had good intentions had their

12 charter school approved there would be an

13 overwhelming number of charter schools It is not

14 necessarily about worthwhile intentions

15 And there has never been any question on our

16 part about the integrity of the people trying to

17 start this charter school none whatsoever They

18 appear to be good people with good intentions It

19 is not about that It is also not about

20 redeveloping downtown Jacksonville It is about

21 the children

22 And thats what we have been given the task

23 of doing as a sponsor to look and make sure that

24 when these applications come in that the children

25 are protected

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1 What Im going to do today is basically

2 provide the Commission with a slight overview with

3 respect to Issue 2 Ms Heiney will talk with

4 respect to Issue 3 And Ms Bowen will talk with

5 respect to Issue 1 just as an overview

6 So moving to Issue 2 governance the first

7 thing -- again keep within the time

8 constraints -- as a highlight the applicant is a

9 private school That in and on its face is a

10 reason for denial If you look at Florida

11 Statutes 100233(3)(b) a private school cannot be

12 a charter school

13 Moving on to management With respect to the

14 management section we were provided with

15 essentially a lot of vague information They

16 failed to give the management structure job

17 descriptions for teachers the administrative

18 positions They failed to give criteria as to how

19 they were going to select teachers And they also

20 failed to describe how they were going to monitor

21 teacher certification as well as how to fill

22 status

23 Based on these measures with respect to

24 Issue 2 under governance and management we feel

25 that the School Board had competent substantial

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1 evidence and good cause to deny the application

2 And next to speak will be Ms Jackie Bowen

3 MS BOWEN Good afternoon Im Jacqueline

4 Bowen the Academic Services Executive Director

5 I do appreciate the applicants passion for

6 students thats why Im here But I would also

7 like to reiterate as our counsel has said that I

8 am not a historical resident of Jacksonville And

9 as we review applications I have no knowledge of

10 many of the historical factors or the political

11 things that are behind it having only been in the

12 city for 12 years My goal and every analysis or

13 review of the complete instructional plan is that

14 it benefit children

15 So in reviewing the actual application there

16 were great deficiencies in the areas of the

17 guiding principles the targeted population was

18 very unclear the education program design the

19 curriculum plan the student performance

20 assessments evaluation the actual educational

21 supporting plan for the ESE population as well as

22 ELL students

23 So for example within this application

24 its supposed to provide any reader or reviewer a

25 very clear picture of what a student will need to

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1 do and what they will experience as they are

2 attending that institution meaning that I should

3 have an understanding of the applicant And the

4 applicant was real clear that he wanted to

5 provide the whole child and provide that

6 experience

7 But it didnt give me a clear understanding

8 or the reviewers upon my team about the

9 structure how the things that were identified

10 were truly going to support and guide teachers

11 decisions to make sure theyre meeting the

12 standards of the NGSS and the Common Core and

13 ultimately graduating

14 The application was indistinguishable between

15 the targeted population because at one point it

16 talked about at-risk students from a particular

17 5-mile geographic dynamics and then it said all

18 students no matter what according to the

19 standard of expectation

20 The applicant briefly described a pre-med

21 program a dual enrollment advanced placement

22 classes And the appeal reiterated the error by

23 describing instructional programs and learning

24 strategies but they failed to provide a clear

25 picture as to how you were going to take

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1 struggling students or any student to that

2 advanced and rigorous curriculum

3 And as we can say that the standard requires

4 the application to explain not only what the

5 school is going to teach but how they were going

6 to teach it I was continually searching which

7 Im not required to do throughout the entire

8 application to see how was this instruction going

9 to be -- what is that child going to experience on

10 a daily basis And it was very unclear

11 Statute 100233 also states that the charter

12 application must have a detailed curriculum plan

13 a curriculum plan not a curriculum resource a

14 plan for instruction that illustrates how those

15 students are going to be provided services to meet

16 those graduation requirements We are in the

17 business of graduating students

18 So the application also didnt provide a very

19 clear reading curriculum They referenced the

20 Just Read Florida Website which Im very happy

21 that they were there supporting but it is a

22 resource document it does not outline a

23 curriculum plan And unfortunately -- and Im

24 saying this in this building -- it really only

25 sports primary education When you get towards

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1 secondary the resources become very limited And

2 I know theyre working on that

3 So the statute requires that we deny the

4 application on the fact that the reading

5 curriculum plan was not sufficient at all

6 Another key issue that was concerning which

7 led to a good cause denial of the application was

8 that a risk of students not being prepared for the

9 FCAT Because they identified assessments which

10 Im very familiar with failed to have the

11 measuring tools that would guide teacher

12 instruction in being able to support deficiencies

13 or make accommodations or get those students ready

14 for that you know accelerated dual enrollment

15 advanced AP or pre-med curriculum

16 Im going to wrap it up because I know

17 everybody is ready to go When we talk about our

18 ELL students and we are doing a lot within our

19 districts to better support all students there

20 was really -- I struggled with finding out how the

21 students were going to enter our school And an

22 ELL student is just one designation because you

23 can have an ELL student that also has an ESE

24 designation and has some little deficiencies in

25 particular other areas

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1 There was no -- they failed to demonstrate

2 how they were going to make choices of selecting

3 the appropriate materials to meet the needs of all

4 students

5 To say we will select resources but there

6 was no clear indication of how those decisions

7 would be made The assessments didnt provide

8 that detailed information to guide that choice so

9 upon that there was no reason but to have a good

10 cause for denial

11 MS HEINEY Good afternoon My name is

12 Angela Heiney H-e-i-n-e-y and I reviewed the

13 business plan for the applicant As an overview

14 the entire business plan did not meet the standard

15 with the exception of the transportation which

16 only partially met the standard

17 There were quite a few reasons that we found

18 for this The biggest -- there were statutory

19 failures all over the place 100233(6)(a)5

20 states that there has to be an annual financial

21 plan based on projected revenues and expenditures

22 What we found is that the revenues and

23 expenditures provided were unsubstantiated

24 unsupported and there was missing money all over

25 the place For example on Page 107 the

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1 applicant states theyre going to take out

2 $500000 in loans to fund their startup however

3 if you look at their five-year business plan

4 there is no repayment for those loans And they

5 provided absolutely no correspondence from any

6 lending institution that says theyre willing to

7 give half a million dollars and not expect a penny

8 back for over five years In this current

9 economic climate that rarely if ever happens

10 Ive never seen it

11 The application and the denial or the

12 response to the denial that was filed -- the

13 notice of appeal -- there were several points that

14 were made in our denial however they never even

15 discussed those

16 For example the application specifically

17 states that they plan on contracting out HR and

18 accounting services however they dont know how

19 much it is so they didnt even include that in

20 their budget For some of our schools that is

21 thousands and thousands of dollars a year just

22 missing

23 Theres inconsistencies Mr Whitaker just

24 stated that the City of Jacksonville has not

25 promised the money However Page 104 states that

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1 they have a verbal commitment There is no

2 evidence of any commitment no letters from former

3 Mayor Delaney no letters from current Mayor

4 Browns office anybody even suggesting that they

5 know who this school is and that theyre willing

6 to support it

7 A second statutory failing occurs again in

8 (6)(a)5 where it states that the application must

9 have a description of controls that safeguard

10 financing

11 During the general help session the

12 applicants were told they must give detailed

13 procedures on certain areas Why Because these

14 are the areas that consistently have fraud

15 errors thefts mistakes We dont like to

16 believe that will happen at schools but frankly

17 bad things do happen

18 They were told you must have accounts

19 payables accounts receivables cash management

20 payroll those areas Why This is where weve

21 seen problems happen There was nothing There

22 was some general policy given on Pages 113 and 14

23 And they state on Page 113 there will be

24 implementation of many internal financial

25 controls however that is not a description of

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1 controls which is what is mandated by the

2 statute

3 Another failing occurs on Statute 21839

4 This statute mandates the use of an independent

5 certified public account for performing annual

6 financial reporting so the audited financial

7 statements which are required

8 In Attachment 7 it states that the same

9 person providing accounting services will also

10 perform the auditing services According to the

11 American Institute of CPAs this is actually a

12 violation of independence and an ethics violation

13 itself So anybody who is willing to do both is

14 not by statute an independent auditor And they

15 have stated in their application thats what

16 theyre going to do

17 When you see one statutory violation that is

18 certainly competent and substantial evidence for

19 denial When you see at least three just in one

20 section now were getting overwhelming grounds

21 for denial

22 But we also saw areas in the facilities where

23 they simply state that they will meet statute

24 Saying youre going to meet statute is not the

25 same as explaining what youre going to do

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1 Theyre stating in their financials that theyre

2 going to have $3 million worth of renovations

3 What on earth are you going to do for $3 million

4 Mr Whitaker stated that the building is just

5 a shell However the application states that it

6 is currently being in use by a daycare for the

7 Urban League So whats going on Theres no

8 consistency between whats being said whats

9 being done in the application

10 In that stance we do not make assumptions

11 We must go with what is written So any verbal

12 statements we cant justify that because all we

13 can hold the applicant to is what has been written

14 in that document

15 We have a problem with food service They

16 state that theyre not going to use NSLP and

17 theyre going to contract a vendor which is

18 perfectly acceptable except their target

19 population is going to be children that are at

20 risk Specifically this is a very high population

21 of children who will qualify for free and reduced

22 lunch What about the kids that cant pay for

23 their food what are they going to do all day in

24 class We cant starve children thats wrong

25 Theres no money in the budget for -shy

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

2 MS HEINEY Im sorry

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

4 MS HEINEY Theres no money in the budget

5 for food so theres no money theres no plan

6 And this is an area that has direct effect on

7 health and well-being of the children

8 The action plan that they gave is completely

9 unrealistic and does not meet up against their

10 academic standards For example they state that

11 theyre going to use Achieve 3000 Achieve 3000

12 is a difficult product to use It does require

13 training

14 And the startup budget and the statement of

15 cash flow is there is no money whatsoever for

16 teacher training So are these teachers supposed

17 to walk in on their first day knowing how to use

18 it The action plan says theres going to be

19 training but theres no money for it so how are

20 you going do it As I said theres quite a bit

21 of reasons And if you have any questions we

22 would be more than happy to respond

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay This takes us to

24 Issue 1 whether the applicant failed to comply

25 with the educational plan regarding guiding

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1 principles target population educational program

2 design curriculum plan student performance

3 assessment and evaluation exceptional students

4 and English language learners

5 So the school if you want to have a couple

6 of minutes to speak directly to the educational

7 plan and then well give the district the same

8 amount of time

9 MS ALEXANDER Sure With respect to the

10 mission statement we believe that the denial was

11 not supported by competent substantial evidence in

12 any way For example the School Board alleges

13 that we didnt provide an adequate mission

14 statement or describe how the school utilizes

15 guiding principles

16 As you can kind of get the sense from hearing

17 Dr Myers hes got a pretty sophisticated sense

18 of mission And with respect to the mission

19 statement the application specifically says on

20 Page 4 The mission statement of the charter high

21 school is to provide an exemplary personalized

22 learning program in a supportive resource rich

23 contemporary learning environment Stephen Biko

24 Charter High School is dedicated to excellence and

25 committed to nurturing passionate lifelong

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1 learners

2 It also says that The school will meet the

3 high standards of student achievement by

4 supporting positive academic outcomes for students

5 by addressing the academic social economical -shy

6 Im sorry -- emotional and behavioral needs of

7 enrolled students And it says that High

8 standards will be evident which will offer parents

9 and guardians of students currently attending the

10 elementary and charter schools of Duval County the

11 flexibility to choose the school

12 So our view is that if you actually look at

13 the application there is a specific mission its

14 very clear and in fact weve met the standard

15 Just as an aside there was a reference to a

16 private school cant be a charter school

17 Dr Myers started the private school on donations

18 alone in the interim because he wanted to try to

19 start offering education to the average students

20 as quickly as possible He consulted with the DOE

21 and was told that in fact he could open up the

22 school and that if the charter is granted he

23 could transition from the private school into the

24 charter model so there isnt any prohibition

25 against how hes doing it

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1 But our view is if you look at the

2 application there is a clear mission its

3 outlined there and it did meet the standard So

4 thank you

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

6 District

7 DR MYERS Can I

8 CHAIRMAN CHU You have about 30 seconds

9 DR MYERS Thank you I contacted the

10 Department of Education and they expressed to me

11 that I have to close the school and once I close

12 the school every child has to apply So that was

13 done prior to opening up the private school

14 As they stated theres nowhere in that

15 application where it states (inaudible) So all

16 of these things are preposterous in what theyre

17 saying and its just things that theyre trying

18 to elaborate to make the application look bad

19 As I expressed to you Board members this

20 application was approved similar last year It

21 was the exact application So everything that

22 shes coming up with and all three of them does

23 not make sense it does not It does not weigh

24 this application God knows it does not And

25 they cannot give you sufficient reasons why

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1 Thats why they come in with all of these

2 fictitious false allegations against this

3 application Thats all theyre doing They

4 approved this application last year they did

5 And thats all Im asking for

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right District

7 MR McDUFFIE Just briefly and I will turn

8 the mic over to Ms Bowen

9 This is the second time youve heard that

10 there was a mirror application from last year I

11 would like to ask the Commission to go to Page 39

12 of the application There is a specific provision

13 in the application which says if the school

14 intends to replicate an existing school design

15 you are supposed to notify the district under E

16 and F in that section

17 In their application that section is blank

18 okay So they are replicating an existing school

19 design they did not notify us of that in the

20 application

21 And secondly that also takes away the

22 innovative factor of the school If theyre

23 replicating an existing school what is innovative

24 about their charter school

25 Just briefly again with respect to that

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1 private school the application is in the name of

2 Stephen Biko Private Charter School so it is a

3 private school that is making the application

4 MS BOWEN I would just like to add that if

5 there was an application that was approved last

6 year within the past five years we would be glad

7 to go back and look if theres a name thats

8 submitted for us to do reference But when we

9 looked through all of our prior applications we

10 could find no areas where there was similar an

11 exact model of an approved application that had

12 already been approved by the district

13 But to respond to point one as far as the

14 guiding principle section the mission statement

15 was general it was vague and it did not describe

16 meaningful or measurable priority It

17 inefficiently defines the values of the school and

18 was inconsistent with the appellants subsequent

19 educational program plan The question of the

20 guidance embedded within question one clearly says

21 that it should explain what the school intends to

22 do for whom and to what degree And I failed to

23 be able to fully answer all of those questions by

24 reading the statement

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Were going to have a QampA

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1 session so what were going to do now is let me

2 ask the Commission members do you have any

3 questions

4 MS BRUBAKER I would like to hear how

5 you -shy

6 DR MYERS Me

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes Dr Myers How you plan

8 on taking those low performing students to be able

9 to do dual enrollment or AP classes

10 DR MYERS Well first of all as those

11 students arrive in the school various testing

12 will be done on those students TABE testing also

13 WRAT4 testing and various things We would look

14 at the matrix of where the kid came from

15 We have a child now that came to us Georgia

16 from one of the schools in Georgia where he was

17 functioning at a lower level The WRAT4 which is

18 designed to motivate the child and test the child

19 TABE test then we get a matrix from that and we

20 set a curriculum for -- excuse me -- we set the

21 curriculum for the child give the child

22 appropriate courses that the child has already

23 taken or retake again

24 So we move the child in small groups which

25 would be one-on-one learning or it could be group

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1 learning activities The chairs in the classroom

2 are set up and a table where one to one and one to

3 one where the child can model the other child and

4 move forward

5 The APEX curriculum which is used in Duval

6 County Public Schools they just finished using

7 the APEX curriculum in one of their failing

8 schools which moved -- increased the grade two

9 grades -- I think one or two grades at Andrew

10 Jackson High School They have the APEX They

11 have several schools in Duval County thats using

12 the APEX curriculum So its a Florida curriculum

13 that is being used

14 As they expressed the application -- when I

15 looked at the application since I was using the

16 APEX curriculum I said okay why not modify this

17 and put it back into context where its being

18 used So what were doing is we just wrote the

19 application in regards to what they wanted They

20 wanted APEX We put the APEX in there Its a

21 proven fact that its successful in their public

22 schools

23 MS ALEXANDER Can you answer her questions

24 I think which is how you are going to move the low

25 learners up to eventually taking the AP test

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1 DR MYERS Right Im sorry I know I only

2 have a few more minutes or a few seconds But

3 eventually as they progress in each area in math

4 science social studies then we test again So

5 we test at the beginning test at the end

6 And as they -- at the midterm level it tells

7 us whether or not theyre going to be remediated

8 in the course or move forward As they move

9 forward we get the curriculum more rigorous again

10 for them and the next course which is in line so

11 basically one on one and group learning is

12 efficient for them Theyre going to have to take

13 the same courses but if theyre testing at lower

14 levels thats where the individualized

15 instruction will help them

16 Did I answer it

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

18 respond to that

19 MR McDUFFIE Ms Bowen would like to

20 respond But I just want to make it also clear

21 that that -- what was just explained verbally is

22 not in the application

23 MS BOWEN The APEX curriculum is about a

24 curriculum for a set population of students as

25 well as the TABE Assessment they test and measure

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1 students basic skills The expectation under the

2 Common Core the FCAT 20 far exceeds that

3 curriculum And yes we have used it with some

4 of our most lowest performing students and Andrew

5 Jackson did make some gains but they still have

6 19 percent of their students are reading

7 proficiently

8 So my concern is with that curriculum I know

9 that there is something that you needed to have a

10 better indication that was going to provide the

11 teacher with a clear pathway of how to meet those

12 gaps By giving me an assessment thats only

13 measuring my minimum skills it does not

14 demonstrate the expectation of the Lexile level

15 thats required for a college entrance And on

16 Page 39 of his application it clearly states for

17 students who are interested in pre-med coursework

18 The expectation for reading cannot be

19 provided with the diagnosis information that you

20 get with a TABE Assessment or an APEX curriculum

21 Page 10 -- Im sorry I said Page 39 its stuck

22 in my head for some reason -- but on Page 10 it

23 talks about pre-med students and the other

24 innovative -- because thats what hes saying

25 its one of the innovative factors of this

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1 program

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you Are there other

3 questions from the Commission members

4 MS BRADLEY I have a question

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Verdya

6 MS BRADLEY My question is for the school

7 the applicant Is this a solely online program

8 DR MYERS No maam Its basically online

9 and direct instruction

10 MS BRADLEY Do you discuss direct

11 instruction in here

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY The reason that I ask that

14 question is the questions in the application asks

15 specifically for a description of the curriculum

16 a description of the reading program And in your

17 responses your responses pretty much tie back to

18 the APEX curriculum so it appears that it is

19 solely reliant on And then all of the

20 documentation that you gave was from the APEX

21 program So I was just wondering is it just

22 solely online

23 DR MYERS The majority of it but theres a

24 piece where the direct instruction is in place

25 with the child because the children are culled

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1 out for the particular course learning for the

2 subject area that theyre doing The regular

3 curriculum comes in -- the APEX Lexile learning

4 comes in Everything is designed where its

5 implemented on the laptop for the child If the

6 child needs direct instruction the child is

7 culled out into an environment where he or she

8 receives the one-on-one instruction

9 MS BRADLEY Did you discuss that in here

10 DR MYERS Im pretty sure I did

11 MS ALEXANDER What page are you looking at

12 for these

13 MS BRADLEY Well it kind of goes back and

14 forth It starts on Page 16 where it starts

15 talking about the educational program and then it

16 gives me probably about 20 30 pages on APEX and

17 then it goes into the reading curriculum But Im

18 not seeing anywhere where theres any supplement

19 to that

20 Because even the question on Page 16 was

21 Describe the proposed reading or educational

22 program it sort of goes through elements of the

23 APEX program Then on Page 68 it says Describe

24 the reading curriculum

25 DR MYERS Yes maam If you look at

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1 the -shy

2 MS HITCHCOCK Stand up please

3 DR MYERS Im sorry

4 CHAIRMAN CHU If you could come to the mic

5 that would be very helpful because our court

6 reporter is trying to get it all down

7 DR MYERS Im sorry The bullet there

8 says Direct instruction individual and small

9 group instruction led by highly-qualified

10 teachers

11 MS ESPOSITO Say the page

12 MS BRADLEY Thats on Page 16 But its

13 just part of the -- its sort of an isolated

14 bullet but it doesnt explain it any further than

15 that You know it doesnt tell me that there is

16 going to be a pull-out portion

17 DR MYERS Right But as I stated I just

18 put a little piece in there because thats just a

19 little piece of the curriculum and thats why I

20 just mentioned a little piece of it there The

21 majority of it is an online based curriculum

22 MS HODGENS I have a question for the

23 school

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

25 MS HODGENS I am confused on the targeted

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1 population Im trying to get it on the motion

2 sheet so Im going to go to targeted population

3 first And I am a little confused on it because I

4 can read what you say on Page 12 And on Page 12

5 you talk about being open to all students and

6 then you talk about low-performing students and

7 then you go back to all students

8 And then when I go to Page 41 the curriculum

9 design you talk about students needing credit

10 recovery And then I continue on and I see AP

11 courses honor courses And again I dont want

12 to allude that I dont believe that kids can do

13 those courses but I want to understand what

14 population youre really looking at

15 DR MYERS Were looking at all students

16 within that demographic And within the

17 demographics it is a lower level You have lower

18 level one level two basically they are coming

19 from the downtown sector area within that 5-mile

20 radius area of the downtown

21 So when I say all students because a

22 charter school cannot deny a student from applying

23 or coming in all students are accepted if they

24 can meet transportation needs to come to school

25 So as I expressed to you thats what

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1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

Page 10: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

10

1 application that Jacksonville -- Im sorry -- the

2 Duval County School Board actually approved the

3 year before So our opinion is that it should

4 have been sufficient it was sufficient the year

5 before and there really arent differences that

6 would account for the differences in treatment

7 But the more important point and which is

8 why I want you to understand how the charter

9 school got started where it is now and the

10 genesis of it is because I think that youll be

11 as impressed as I was to learn about the history

12 and what is going on now

13 And with that I would like to ask Dr Myers

14 to get up and give you a little five minutes about

15 where things are Thank you

16 DR MYERS Good afternoon everyone

17 Chairperson Board members Excuse me Im a

18 little tall

19 MS HITCHCOCK I think that we can probably

20 hear you Dr Myers you dont have to bend down

21 DR MYERS My name is Dr Myers Gregory

22 Myers educated at Duval County one of their

23 products with the school reared in Duval County

24 from elementary Originally from South America

25 came to the United States in 1968 immigrant

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1 parents West Indian mom Portuguese dad And it

2 was instilled to be the best in this world

3 I was a defiant kid had to be removed from

4 Duval County Public School System But it took a

5 principal that grabbed me and said that you are

6 the best and I believe in you And I went on and

7 graduated from high school received a football

8 scholarship went on to college graduated played

9 some professional football and returned back to

10 receive my masters degree my PhD in health

11 care administration

12 And I wanted to give something back to this

13 county that I represented and I saw a school that

14 was so vibrant and God touched me to say that

15 thats what I want you to do This is all about

16 this building Thats what this whole issue is

17 about Its about this great building the

18 oldest historical African-American high school in

19 the United States

20 They feel as though that Im going to take

21 their kids but this school is about every child

22 in Duval County Ive been granted the

23 opportunity by all the former mayors and the mayor

24 of Jacksonville to succeed in this because they

25 believe in me as an individual as an

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1 African-American to the community and one that

2 can put this together I would be blessed to have

3 a great partner of Joe Whitaker who has worked

4 with me diligently on this

5 The school is open now Weve opened as a

6 private school We had our first graduate this

7 December that went through all of the standards of

8 Duval County She came to us from a failing

9 school a failing school that was not progressing

10 But now she went from scoring a 14 on the ACT to a

11 19 That says that were doing something

12 We have up to 35 kids that are accelerating

13 using a curriculum called APEX curriculum which

14 is in their county They fostered the curriculum

15 Whats wrong with it Nothing

16 I know Im speaking but Im speaking from my

17 heart because this touches me Im one of theirs

18 educator and I have to be treated like this It

19 is wrong and thats how I feel because Im only

20 speaking from my heart And it hurts me today it

21 all hurts me All of this is for -- because this

22 is mirrored off an application that they approved

23 last year last year they approved this

24 application

25 So why should I have to be subject to what

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1 Im going through And it is wrong And Im only

2 speaking from my heart You cant throw me in the

3 garbage can speaking from my heart thats what

4 Im doing today

5 And Im just asking you to give me the

6 opportunity to show these individuals from my

7 county that I can be successful I am being

8 successful with these kids Im doing a great

9 job And former Mayor Delaney he inspired me to

10 do this because he said Greg you are passionate

11 Most individuals that open up charter schools open

12 them up for the wrong reasons they open them up

13 for funds I opening up because I love kids and I

14 want to change lives because Im tired of seeing

15 children go into the prison system and Im tired

16 of seeing children going wayward

17 The young lady that finished our school

18 shes now attending Virginia College received a

19 full scholarship Thats what this is all about

20 And if it could change my life imagine how it

21 could change other lives

22 So thats why it makes me upset it makes me

23 angry because Ive been going through this and

24 its all about this beautiful building Old

25 Stanton High School located right behind the new

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1 courthouse Thats what its all about All this

2 is is just a dog and pony show this is what its

3 about because they feel as though Im going to

4 take the kids from (inaudible) and Andrew Jackson

5 Thank you so much for listening to me and

6 Ill be responding to your questions

7 MS ALEXANDER As you can tell hes very

8 passionate about his school And he was in fact

9 urged by former Mayor Delaney to start the charter

10 school

11 And the building that hes showing and

12 referring to is actually right behind -- as he

13 said its right behind the brand new courthouse

14 And in fact the development authority which Joe

15 Whitaker will speak to has actually pledged funds

16 to refurbish the building And thats where the

17 charter school will be housed

18 And all of those plans are in place but in

19 fact because we dont have charter school

20 approval we cant go forward and get the funds to

21 rehab the school thats right behind the

22 courthouse in downtown Its part of the

23 revitalization district of downtown Jacksonville

24 What he forgot to stay was not only was he a

25 product of the education system in Jacksonville

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1 but he taught in the Duval County Schools for

2 many many years He was a football coach he was

3 a teacher he was an assistant principle he was a

4 principal in fact he ran three Drop In Academy

5 Schools in Duval before in fact deciding to open

6 up the new charter school at the urgence of former

7 Mayor John Delaney who is in fact on his Board

8 and as you all know is now the current President

9 of the University of North Florida So thats

10 really the backdrop of this

11 And Im going to turn it over to Joe

12 Whitaker who is on the Board and will give you a

13 little sense of whats going on with the building

14 so you get a sense of the whole background here

15 Thanks

16 MR WHITAKER Good afternoon My name is

17 Joe Whitaker and Im with the Mayors Office of

18 Economic Development for the City of Jacksonville

19 And I got intrigued by Mr Myers desire to open

20 up a charter school because I ran a loan program

21 for the City and I assisted him in another project

22 that he did to put something back into his

23 neighborhood So Ive watched him and Ive seen

24 his passion and his energy for getting things

25 done

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1 And one of the things that I admire about

2 Dr Myers is that he does what he says hes going

3 to do when he says hes going to do it And

4 thats fairly rare in my opinion

5 I would like to just clear up any other

6 misunderstandings The City of Jacksonville has

7 yet not pledged funds for his project until we

8 have a charter school designation so that we dont

9 waste a lot of time trying to raise money But

10 essentially the Old Stanton High School was built

11 in 1901 and it is now just a shell and it is

12 governed by a not-for-profit Board And we have

13 achieved the first step of the goal and that is

14 they have given us site control

15 So we do have the ability if were granted a

16 charter to be able to go out then and raise the

17 funds to be able to rehabilitate this building and

18 actually put upwards of 400 young students in

19 there in high school

20 And we dont have a high school in downtown

21 Jacksonville and we believe that this opportunity

22 to redevelop the Old Stanton building is a

23 worthwhile endeavor on behalf of our redevelopment

24 efforts and were anxious to do that

25 We have put together a Board that we believe

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1 has the fundraising capacity to be able to

2 generate enough private capital to get this kicked

3 off And the City of Jacksonville has an historic

4 loan fund that we have the ability to be able to

5 get some money from to finish the product And we

6 think its going to be a success

7 Downtown Jacksonville is going through its

8 own renaissance We have people moving downtown

9 and were bringing more retail downtown and our

10 Mayor is focused on rebuilding downtown So we

11 believe that we have an opportunity to be

12 successful

13 I chose to volunteer to be on Gregs Board

14 because I believe in him And we have been

15 working to get other prominent people in the

16 community on this Board so that we can make a

17 difference Thats what this is all about

18 As an economic development professional with

19 the City of Jacksonville for the last 30 years

20 Ive been involved in a lot of projects 156

21 projects since 2001 and weve generated private

22 capital investments of $14 million and weve

23 created 15000 jobs So the group that Im

24 working with we believe that this is achievable

25 But the first step is to get site control we

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1 have that Now the next step is we get the

2 charter then we have the ability to be able to

3 raise the funds you know to put this project

4 together Ill be happy to answer any questions

5 you may have

6 MS ALEXANDER Given that the school has

7 already opened and is successfully educating

8 students we believe that there wasnt good cause

9 in fact to deny the application and we will be

10 happy to answer any questions with respect to the

11 specific categories I just didnt want to go

12 through them twice given that its late in the

13 day So I just wanted to give you a background

14 thats where we are And we respectfully request

15 that you grant our appeal and thank you very

16 much

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

18 Representatives for the district

19 MR McDUFFIE Thank you members of the

20 Commission Again my name is Brian McDuffie

21 Im Executive Director for Policy and Compliance

22 with Duval County Public Schools

23 With me to my left is Ms Jackie Bowen

24 Executive Director for Academic Services

25 Ms Angela Heiney who is Coordinator of Financial

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1 Reporting We also have Karen Chastain who is

2 Chief Legal Officer for the district as well as

3 Shanita Roper and Anita Henry-Smith who are from

4 our charter schools office

5 The first thing that I want to touch upon is

6 the charter school climate in Duval County We

7 approved 13 out of 15 applications that went to

8 the Board during this last cycle We currently

9 have 21 charter schools operating in Duval County

10 And I think if every application or every

11 applicant that had good intentions had their

12 charter school approved there would be an

13 overwhelming number of charter schools It is not

14 necessarily about worthwhile intentions

15 And there has never been any question on our

16 part about the integrity of the people trying to

17 start this charter school none whatsoever They

18 appear to be good people with good intentions It

19 is not about that It is also not about

20 redeveloping downtown Jacksonville It is about

21 the children

22 And thats what we have been given the task

23 of doing as a sponsor to look and make sure that

24 when these applications come in that the children

25 are protected

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1 What Im going to do today is basically

2 provide the Commission with a slight overview with

3 respect to Issue 2 Ms Heiney will talk with

4 respect to Issue 3 And Ms Bowen will talk with

5 respect to Issue 1 just as an overview

6 So moving to Issue 2 governance the first

7 thing -- again keep within the time

8 constraints -- as a highlight the applicant is a

9 private school That in and on its face is a

10 reason for denial If you look at Florida

11 Statutes 100233(3)(b) a private school cannot be

12 a charter school

13 Moving on to management With respect to the

14 management section we were provided with

15 essentially a lot of vague information They

16 failed to give the management structure job

17 descriptions for teachers the administrative

18 positions They failed to give criteria as to how

19 they were going to select teachers And they also

20 failed to describe how they were going to monitor

21 teacher certification as well as how to fill

22 status

23 Based on these measures with respect to

24 Issue 2 under governance and management we feel

25 that the School Board had competent substantial

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1 evidence and good cause to deny the application

2 And next to speak will be Ms Jackie Bowen

3 MS BOWEN Good afternoon Im Jacqueline

4 Bowen the Academic Services Executive Director

5 I do appreciate the applicants passion for

6 students thats why Im here But I would also

7 like to reiterate as our counsel has said that I

8 am not a historical resident of Jacksonville And

9 as we review applications I have no knowledge of

10 many of the historical factors or the political

11 things that are behind it having only been in the

12 city for 12 years My goal and every analysis or

13 review of the complete instructional plan is that

14 it benefit children

15 So in reviewing the actual application there

16 were great deficiencies in the areas of the

17 guiding principles the targeted population was

18 very unclear the education program design the

19 curriculum plan the student performance

20 assessments evaluation the actual educational

21 supporting plan for the ESE population as well as

22 ELL students

23 So for example within this application

24 its supposed to provide any reader or reviewer a

25 very clear picture of what a student will need to

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1 do and what they will experience as they are

2 attending that institution meaning that I should

3 have an understanding of the applicant And the

4 applicant was real clear that he wanted to

5 provide the whole child and provide that

6 experience

7 But it didnt give me a clear understanding

8 or the reviewers upon my team about the

9 structure how the things that were identified

10 were truly going to support and guide teachers

11 decisions to make sure theyre meeting the

12 standards of the NGSS and the Common Core and

13 ultimately graduating

14 The application was indistinguishable between

15 the targeted population because at one point it

16 talked about at-risk students from a particular

17 5-mile geographic dynamics and then it said all

18 students no matter what according to the

19 standard of expectation

20 The applicant briefly described a pre-med

21 program a dual enrollment advanced placement

22 classes And the appeal reiterated the error by

23 describing instructional programs and learning

24 strategies but they failed to provide a clear

25 picture as to how you were going to take

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1 struggling students or any student to that

2 advanced and rigorous curriculum

3 And as we can say that the standard requires

4 the application to explain not only what the

5 school is going to teach but how they were going

6 to teach it I was continually searching which

7 Im not required to do throughout the entire

8 application to see how was this instruction going

9 to be -- what is that child going to experience on

10 a daily basis And it was very unclear

11 Statute 100233 also states that the charter

12 application must have a detailed curriculum plan

13 a curriculum plan not a curriculum resource a

14 plan for instruction that illustrates how those

15 students are going to be provided services to meet

16 those graduation requirements We are in the

17 business of graduating students

18 So the application also didnt provide a very

19 clear reading curriculum They referenced the

20 Just Read Florida Website which Im very happy

21 that they were there supporting but it is a

22 resource document it does not outline a

23 curriculum plan And unfortunately -- and Im

24 saying this in this building -- it really only

25 sports primary education When you get towards

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1 secondary the resources become very limited And

2 I know theyre working on that

3 So the statute requires that we deny the

4 application on the fact that the reading

5 curriculum plan was not sufficient at all

6 Another key issue that was concerning which

7 led to a good cause denial of the application was

8 that a risk of students not being prepared for the

9 FCAT Because they identified assessments which

10 Im very familiar with failed to have the

11 measuring tools that would guide teacher

12 instruction in being able to support deficiencies

13 or make accommodations or get those students ready

14 for that you know accelerated dual enrollment

15 advanced AP or pre-med curriculum

16 Im going to wrap it up because I know

17 everybody is ready to go When we talk about our

18 ELL students and we are doing a lot within our

19 districts to better support all students there

20 was really -- I struggled with finding out how the

21 students were going to enter our school And an

22 ELL student is just one designation because you

23 can have an ELL student that also has an ESE

24 designation and has some little deficiencies in

25 particular other areas

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1 There was no -- they failed to demonstrate

2 how they were going to make choices of selecting

3 the appropriate materials to meet the needs of all

4 students

5 To say we will select resources but there

6 was no clear indication of how those decisions

7 would be made The assessments didnt provide

8 that detailed information to guide that choice so

9 upon that there was no reason but to have a good

10 cause for denial

11 MS HEINEY Good afternoon My name is

12 Angela Heiney H-e-i-n-e-y and I reviewed the

13 business plan for the applicant As an overview

14 the entire business plan did not meet the standard

15 with the exception of the transportation which

16 only partially met the standard

17 There were quite a few reasons that we found

18 for this The biggest -- there were statutory

19 failures all over the place 100233(6)(a)5

20 states that there has to be an annual financial

21 plan based on projected revenues and expenditures

22 What we found is that the revenues and

23 expenditures provided were unsubstantiated

24 unsupported and there was missing money all over

25 the place For example on Page 107 the

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1 applicant states theyre going to take out

2 $500000 in loans to fund their startup however

3 if you look at their five-year business plan

4 there is no repayment for those loans And they

5 provided absolutely no correspondence from any

6 lending institution that says theyre willing to

7 give half a million dollars and not expect a penny

8 back for over five years In this current

9 economic climate that rarely if ever happens

10 Ive never seen it

11 The application and the denial or the

12 response to the denial that was filed -- the

13 notice of appeal -- there were several points that

14 were made in our denial however they never even

15 discussed those

16 For example the application specifically

17 states that they plan on contracting out HR and

18 accounting services however they dont know how

19 much it is so they didnt even include that in

20 their budget For some of our schools that is

21 thousands and thousands of dollars a year just

22 missing

23 Theres inconsistencies Mr Whitaker just

24 stated that the City of Jacksonville has not

25 promised the money However Page 104 states that

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1 they have a verbal commitment There is no

2 evidence of any commitment no letters from former

3 Mayor Delaney no letters from current Mayor

4 Browns office anybody even suggesting that they

5 know who this school is and that theyre willing

6 to support it

7 A second statutory failing occurs again in

8 (6)(a)5 where it states that the application must

9 have a description of controls that safeguard

10 financing

11 During the general help session the

12 applicants were told they must give detailed

13 procedures on certain areas Why Because these

14 are the areas that consistently have fraud

15 errors thefts mistakes We dont like to

16 believe that will happen at schools but frankly

17 bad things do happen

18 They were told you must have accounts

19 payables accounts receivables cash management

20 payroll those areas Why This is where weve

21 seen problems happen There was nothing There

22 was some general policy given on Pages 113 and 14

23 And they state on Page 113 there will be

24 implementation of many internal financial

25 controls however that is not a description of

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1 controls which is what is mandated by the

2 statute

3 Another failing occurs on Statute 21839

4 This statute mandates the use of an independent

5 certified public account for performing annual

6 financial reporting so the audited financial

7 statements which are required

8 In Attachment 7 it states that the same

9 person providing accounting services will also

10 perform the auditing services According to the

11 American Institute of CPAs this is actually a

12 violation of independence and an ethics violation

13 itself So anybody who is willing to do both is

14 not by statute an independent auditor And they

15 have stated in their application thats what

16 theyre going to do

17 When you see one statutory violation that is

18 certainly competent and substantial evidence for

19 denial When you see at least three just in one

20 section now were getting overwhelming grounds

21 for denial

22 But we also saw areas in the facilities where

23 they simply state that they will meet statute

24 Saying youre going to meet statute is not the

25 same as explaining what youre going to do

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1 Theyre stating in their financials that theyre

2 going to have $3 million worth of renovations

3 What on earth are you going to do for $3 million

4 Mr Whitaker stated that the building is just

5 a shell However the application states that it

6 is currently being in use by a daycare for the

7 Urban League So whats going on Theres no

8 consistency between whats being said whats

9 being done in the application

10 In that stance we do not make assumptions

11 We must go with what is written So any verbal

12 statements we cant justify that because all we

13 can hold the applicant to is what has been written

14 in that document

15 We have a problem with food service They

16 state that theyre not going to use NSLP and

17 theyre going to contract a vendor which is

18 perfectly acceptable except their target

19 population is going to be children that are at

20 risk Specifically this is a very high population

21 of children who will qualify for free and reduced

22 lunch What about the kids that cant pay for

23 their food what are they going to do all day in

24 class We cant starve children thats wrong

25 Theres no money in the budget for -shy

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

2 MS HEINEY Im sorry

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

4 MS HEINEY Theres no money in the budget

5 for food so theres no money theres no plan

6 And this is an area that has direct effect on

7 health and well-being of the children

8 The action plan that they gave is completely

9 unrealistic and does not meet up against their

10 academic standards For example they state that

11 theyre going to use Achieve 3000 Achieve 3000

12 is a difficult product to use It does require

13 training

14 And the startup budget and the statement of

15 cash flow is there is no money whatsoever for

16 teacher training So are these teachers supposed

17 to walk in on their first day knowing how to use

18 it The action plan says theres going to be

19 training but theres no money for it so how are

20 you going do it As I said theres quite a bit

21 of reasons And if you have any questions we

22 would be more than happy to respond

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay This takes us to

24 Issue 1 whether the applicant failed to comply

25 with the educational plan regarding guiding

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1 principles target population educational program

2 design curriculum plan student performance

3 assessment and evaluation exceptional students

4 and English language learners

5 So the school if you want to have a couple

6 of minutes to speak directly to the educational

7 plan and then well give the district the same

8 amount of time

9 MS ALEXANDER Sure With respect to the

10 mission statement we believe that the denial was

11 not supported by competent substantial evidence in

12 any way For example the School Board alleges

13 that we didnt provide an adequate mission

14 statement or describe how the school utilizes

15 guiding principles

16 As you can kind of get the sense from hearing

17 Dr Myers hes got a pretty sophisticated sense

18 of mission And with respect to the mission

19 statement the application specifically says on

20 Page 4 The mission statement of the charter high

21 school is to provide an exemplary personalized

22 learning program in a supportive resource rich

23 contemporary learning environment Stephen Biko

24 Charter High School is dedicated to excellence and

25 committed to nurturing passionate lifelong

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1 learners

2 It also says that The school will meet the

3 high standards of student achievement by

4 supporting positive academic outcomes for students

5 by addressing the academic social economical -shy

6 Im sorry -- emotional and behavioral needs of

7 enrolled students And it says that High

8 standards will be evident which will offer parents

9 and guardians of students currently attending the

10 elementary and charter schools of Duval County the

11 flexibility to choose the school

12 So our view is that if you actually look at

13 the application there is a specific mission its

14 very clear and in fact weve met the standard

15 Just as an aside there was a reference to a

16 private school cant be a charter school

17 Dr Myers started the private school on donations

18 alone in the interim because he wanted to try to

19 start offering education to the average students

20 as quickly as possible He consulted with the DOE

21 and was told that in fact he could open up the

22 school and that if the charter is granted he

23 could transition from the private school into the

24 charter model so there isnt any prohibition

25 against how hes doing it

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1 But our view is if you look at the

2 application there is a clear mission its

3 outlined there and it did meet the standard So

4 thank you

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

6 District

7 DR MYERS Can I

8 CHAIRMAN CHU You have about 30 seconds

9 DR MYERS Thank you I contacted the

10 Department of Education and they expressed to me

11 that I have to close the school and once I close

12 the school every child has to apply So that was

13 done prior to opening up the private school

14 As they stated theres nowhere in that

15 application where it states (inaudible) So all

16 of these things are preposterous in what theyre

17 saying and its just things that theyre trying

18 to elaborate to make the application look bad

19 As I expressed to you Board members this

20 application was approved similar last year It

21 was the exact application So everything that

22 shes coming up with and all three of them does

23 not make sense it does not It does not weigh

24 this application God knows it does not And

25 they cannot give you sufficient reasons why

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1 Thats why they come in with all of these

2 fictitious false allegations against this

3 application Thats all theyre doing They

4 approved this application last year they did

5 And thats all Im asking for

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right District

7 MR McDUFFIE Just briefly and I will turn

8 the mic over to Ms Bowen

9 This is the second time youve heard that

10 there was a mirror application from last year I

11 would like to ask the Commission to go to Page 39

12 of the application There is a specific provision

13 in the application which says if the school

14 intends to replicate an existing school design

15 you are supposed to notify the district under E

16 and F in that section

17 In their application that section is blank

18 okay So they are replicating an existing school

19 design they did not notify us of that in the

20 application

21 And secondly that also takes away the

22 innovative factor of the school If theyre

23 replicating an existing school what is innovative

24 about their charter school

25 Just briefly again with respect to that

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1 private school the application is in the name of

2 Stephen Biko Private Charter School so it is a

3 private school that is making the application

4 MS BOWEN I would just like to add that if

5 there was an application that was approved last

6 year within the past five years we would be glad

7 to go back and look if theres a name thats

8 submitted for us to do reference But when we

9 looked through all of our prior applications we

10 could find no areas where there was similar an

11 exact model of an approved application that had

12 already been approved by the district

13 But to respond to point one as far as the

14 guiding principle section the mission statement

15 was general it was vague and it did not describe

16 meaningful or measurable priority It

17 inefficiently defines the values of the school and

18 was inconsistent with the appellants subsequent

19 educational program plan The question of the

20 guidance embedded within question one clearly says

21 that it should explain what the school intends to

22 do for whom and to what degree And I failed to

23 be able to fully answer all of those questions by

24 reading the statement

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Were going to have a QampA

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1 session so what were going to do now is let me

2 ask the Commission members do you have any

3 questions

4 MS BRUBAKER I would like to hear how

5 you -shy

6 DR MYERS Me

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes Dr Myers How you plan

8 on taking those low performing students to be able

9 to do dual enrollment or AP classes

10 DR MYERS Well first of all as those

11 students arrive in the school various testing

12 will be done on those students TABE testing also

13 WRAT4 testing and various things We would look

14 at the matrix of where the kid came from

15 We have a child now that came to us Georgia

16 from one of the schools in Georgia where he was

17 functioning at a lower level The WRAT4 which is

18 designed to motivate the child and test the child

19 TABE test then we get a matrix from that and we

20 set a curriculum for -- excuse me -- we set the

21 curriculum for the child give the child

22 appropriate courses that the child has already

23 taken or retake again

24 So we move the child in small groups which

25 would be one-on-one learning or it could be group

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1 learning activities The chairs in the classroom

2 are set up and a table where one to one and one to

3 one where the child can model the other child and

4 move forward

5 The APEX curriculum which is used in Duval

6 County Public Schools they just finished using

7 the APEX curriculum in one of their failing

8 schools which moved -- increased the grade two

9 grades -- I think one or two grades at Andrew

10 Jackson High School They have the APEX They

11 have several schools in Duval County thats using

12 the APEX curriculum So its a Florida curriculum

13 that is being used

14 As they expressed the application -- when I

15 looked at the application since I was using the

16 APEX curriculum I said okay why not modify this

17 and put it back into context where its being

18 used So what were doing is we just wrote the

19 application in regards to what they wanted They

20 wanted APEX We put the APEX in there Its a

21 proven fact that its successful in their public

22 schools

23 MS ALEXANDER Can you answer her questions

24 I think which is how you are going to move the low

25 learners up to eventually taking the AP test

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1 DR MYERS Right Im sorry I know I only

2 have a few more minutes or a few seconds But

3 eventually as they progress in each area in math

4 science social studies then we test again So

5 we test at the beginning test at the end

6 And as they -- at the midterm level it tells

7 us whether or not theyre going to be remediated

8 in the course or move forward As they move

9 forward we get the curriculum more rigorous again

10 for them and the next course which is in line so

11 basically one on one and group learning is

12 efficient for them Theyre going to have to take

13 the same courses but if theyre testing at lower

14 levels thats where the individualized

15 instruction will help them

16 Did I answer it

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

18 respond to that

19 MR McDUFFIE Ms Bowen would like to

20 respond But I just want to make it also clear

21 that that -- what was just explained verbally is

22 not in the application

23 MS BOWEN The APEX curriculum is about a

24 curriculum for a set population of students as

25 well as the TABE Assessment they test and measure

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1 students basic skills The expectation under the

2 Common Core the FCAT 20 far exceeds that

3 curriculum And yes we have used it with some

4 of our most lowest performing students and Andrew

5 Jackson did make some gains but they still have

6 19 percent of their students are reading

7 proficiently

8 So my concern is with that curriculum I know

9 that there is something that you needed to have a

10 better indication that was going to provide the

11 teacher with a clear pathway of how to meet those

12 gaps By giving me an assessment thats only

13 measuring my minimum skills it does not

14 demonstrate the expectation of the Lexile level

15 thats required for a college entrance And on

16 Page 39 of his application it clearly states for

17 students who are interested in pre-med coursework

18 The expectation for reading cannot be

19 provided with the diagnosis information that you

20 get with a TABE Assessment or an APEX curriculum

21 Page 10 -- Im sorry I said Page 39 its stuck

22 in my head for some reason -- but on Page 10 it

23 talks about pre-med students and the other

24 innovative -- because thats what hes saying

25 its one of the innovative factors of this

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1 program

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you Are there other

3 questions from the Commission members

4 MS BRADLEY I have a question

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Verdya

6 MS BRADLEY My question is for the school

7 the applicant Is this a solely online program

8 DR MYERS No maam Its basically online

9 and direct instruction

10 MS BRADLEY Do you discuss direct

11 instruction in here

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY The reason that I ask that

14 question is the questions in the application asks

15 specifically for a description of the curriculum

16 a description of the reading program And in your

17 responses your responses pretty much tie back to

18 the APEX curriculum so it appears that it is

19 solely reliant on And then all of the

20 documentation that you gave was from the APEX

21 program So I was just wondering is it just

22 solely online

23 DR MYERS The majority of it but theres a

24 piece where the direct instruction is in place

25 with the child because the children are culled

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1 out for the particular course learning for the

2 subject area that theyre doing The regular

3 curriculum comes in -- the APEX Lexile learning

4 comes in Everything is designed where its

5 implemented on the laptop for the child If the

6 child needs direct instruction the child is

7 culled out into an environment where he or she

8 receives the one-on-one instruction

9 MS BRADLEY Did you discuss that in here

10 DR MYERS Im pretty sure I did

11 MS ALEXANDER What page are you looking at

12 for these

13 MS BRADLEY Well it kind of goes back and

14 forth It starts on Page 16 where it starts

15 talking about the educational program and then it

16 gives me probably about 20 30 pages on APEX and

17 then it goes into the reading curriculum But Im

18 not seeing anywhere where theres any supplement

19 to that

20 Because even the question on Page 16 was

21 Describe the proposed reading or educational

22 program it sort of goes through elements of the

23 APEX program Then on Page 68 it says Describe

24 the reading curriculum

25 DR MYERS Yes maam If you look at

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1 the -shy

2 MS HITCHCOCK Stand up please

3 DR MYERS Im sorry

4 CHAIRMAN CHU If you could come to the mic

5 that would be very helpful because our court

6 reporter is trying to get it all down

7 DR MYERS Im sorry The bullet there

8 says Direct instruction individual and small

9 group instruction led by highly-qualified

10 teachers

11 MS ESPOSITO Say the page

12 MS BRADLEY Thats on Page 16 But its

13 just part of the -- its sort of an isolated

14 bullet but it doesnt explain it any further than

15 that You know it doesnt tell me that there is

16 going to be a pull-out portion

17 DR MYERS Right But as I stated I just

18 put a little piece in there because thats just a

19 little piece of the curriculum and thats why I

20 just mentioned a little piece of it there The

21 majority of it is an online based curriculum

22 MS HODGENS I have a question for the

23 school

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

25 MS HODGENS I am confused on the targeted

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1 population Im trying to get it on the motion

2 sheet so Im going to go to targeted population

3 first And I am a little confused on it because I

4 can read what you say on Page 12 And on Page 12

5 you talk about being open to all students and

6 then you talk about low-performing students and

7 then you go back to all students

8 And then when I go to Page 41 the curriculum

9 design you talk about students needing credit

10 recovery And then I continue on and I see AP

11 courses honor courses And again I dont want

12 to allude that I dont believe that kids can do

13 those courses but I want to understand what

14 population youre really looking at

15 DR MYERS Were looking at all students

16 within that demographic And within the

17 demographics it is a lower level You have lower

18 level one level two basically they are coming

19 from the downtown sector area within that 5-mile

20 radius area of the downtown

21 So when I say all students because a

22 charter school cannot deny a student from applying

23 or coming in all students are accepted if they

24 can meet transportation needs to come to school

25 So as I expressed to you thats what

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1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

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11

1 parents West Indian mom Portuguese dad And it

2 was instilled to be the best in this world

3 I was a defiant kid had to be removed from

4 Duval County Public School System But it took a

5 principal that grabbed me and said that you are

6 the best and I believe in you And I went on and

7 graduated from high school received a football

8 scholarship went on to college graduated played

9 some professional football and returned back to

10 receive my masters degree my PhD in health

11 care administration

12 And I wanted to give something back to this

13 county that I represented and I saw a school that

14 was so vibrant and God touched me to say that

15 thats what I want you to do This is all about

16 this building Thats what this whole issue is

17 about Its about this great building the

18 oldest historical African-American high school in

19 the United States

20 They feel as though that Im going to take

21 their kids but this school is about every child

22 in Duval County Ive been granted the

23 opportunity by all the former mayors and the mayor

24 of Jacksonville to succeed in this because they

25 believe in me as an individual as an

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1 African-American to the community and one that

2 can put this together I would be blessed to have

3 a great partner of Joe Whitaker who has worked

4 with me diligently on this

5 The school is open now Weve opened as a

6 private school We had our first graduate this

7 December that went through all of the standards of

8 Duval County She came to us from a failing

9 school a failing school that was not progressing

10 But now she went from scoring a 14 on the ACT to a

11 19 That says that were doing something

12 We have up to 35 kids that are accelerating

13 using a curriculum called APEX curriculum which

14 is in their county They fostered the curriculum

15 Whats wrong with it Nothing

16 I know Im speaking but Im speaking from my

17 heart because this touches me Im one of theirs

18 educator and I have to be treated like this It

19 is wrong and thats how I feel because Im only

20 speaking from my heart And it hurts me today it

21 all hurts me All of this is for -- because this

22 is mirrored off an application that they approved

23 last year last year they approved this

24 application

25 So why should I have to be subject to what

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1 Im going through And it is wrong And Im only

2 speaking from my heart You cant throw me in the

3 garbage can speaking from my heart thats what

4 Im doing today

5 And Im just asking you to give me the

6 opportunity to show these individuals from my

7 county that I can be successful I am being

8 successful with these kids Im doing a great

9 job And former Mayor Delaney he inspired me to

10 do this because he said Greg you are passionate

11 Most individuals that open up charter schools open

12 them up for the wrong reasons they open them up

13 for funds I opening up because I love kids and I

14 want to change lives because Im tired of seeing

15 children go into the prison system and Im tired

16 of seeing children going wayward

17 The young lady that finished our school

18 shes now attending Virginia College received a

19 full scholarship Thats what this is all about

20 And if it could change my life imagine how it

21 could change other lives

22 So thats why it makes me upset it makes me

23 angry because Ive been going through this and

24 its all about this beautiful building Old

25 Stanton High School located right behind the new

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1 courthouse Thats what its all about All this

2 is is just a dog and pony show this is what its

3 about because they feel as though Im going to

4 take the kids from (inaudible) and Andrew Jackson

5 Thank you so much for listening to me and

6 Ill be responding to your questions

7 MS ALEXANDER As you can tell hes very

8 passionate about his school And he was in fact

9 urged by former Mayor Delaney to start the charter

10 school

11 And the building that hes showing and

12 referring to is actually right behind -- as he

13 said its right behind the brand new courthouse

14 And in fact the development authority which Joe

15 Whitaker will speak to has actually pledged funds

16 to refurbish the building And thats where the

17 charter school will be housed

18 And all of those plans are in place but in

19 fact because we dont have charter school

20 approval we cant go forward and get the funds to

21 rehab the school thats right behind the

22 courthouse in downtown Its part of the

23 revitalization district of downtown Jacksonville

24 What he forgot to stay was not only was he a

25 product of the education system in Jacksonville

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1 but he taught in the Duval County Schools for

2 many many years He was a football coach he was

3 a teacher he was an assistant principle he was a

4 principal in fact he ran three Drop In Academy

5 Schools in Duval before in fact deciding to open

6 up the new charter school at the urgence of former

7 Mayor John Delaney who is in fact on his Board

8 and as you all know is now the current President

9 of the University of North Florida So thats

10 really the backdrop of this

11 And Im going to turn it over to Joe

12 Whitaker who is on the Board and will give you a

13 little sense of whats going on with the building

14 so you get a sense of the whole background here

15 Thanks

16 MR WHITAKER Good afternoon My name is

17 Joe Whitaker and Im with the Mayors Office of

18 Economic Development for the City of Jacksonville

19 And I got intrigued by Mr Myers desire to open

20 up a charter school because I ran a loan program

21 for the City and I assisted him in another project

22 that he did to put something back into his

23 neighborhood So Ive watched him and Ive seen

24 his passion and his energy for getting things

25 done

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1 And one of the things that I admire about

2 Dr Myers is that he does what he says hes going

3 to do when he says hes going to do it And

4 thats fairly rare in my opinion

5 I would like to just clear up any other

6 misunderstandings The City of Jacksonville has

7 yet not pledged funds for his project until we

8 have a charter school designation so that we dont

9 waste a lot of time trying to raise money But

10 essentially the Old Stanton High School was built

11 in 1901 and it is now just a shell and it is

12 governed by a not-for-profit Board And we have

13 achieved the first step of the goal and that is

14 they have given us site control

15 So we do have the ability if were granted a

16 charter to be able to go out then and raise the

17 funds to be able to rehabilitate this building and

18 actually put upwards of 400 young students in

19 there in high school

20 And we dont have a high school in downtown

21 Jacksonville and we believe that this opportunity

22 to redevelop the Old Stanton building is a

23 worthwhile endeavor on behalf of our redevelopment

24 efforts and were anxious to do that

25 We have put together a Board that we believe

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1 has the fundraising capacity to be able to

2 generate enough private capital to get this kicked

3 off And the City of Jacksonville has an historic

4 loan fund that we have the ability to be able to

5 get some money from to finish the product And we

6 think its going to be a success

7 Downtown Jacksonville is going through its

8 own renaissance We have people moving downtown

9 and were bringing more retail downtown and our

10 Mayor is focused on rebuilding downtown So we

11 believe that we have an opportunity to be

12 successful

13 I chose to volunteer to be on Gregs Board

14 because I believe in him And we have been

15 working to get other prominent people in the

16 community on this Board so that we can make a

17 difference Thats what this is all about

18 As an economic development professional with

19 the City of Jacksonville for the last 30 years

20 Ive been involved in a lot of projects 156

21 projects since 2001 and weve generated private

22 capital investments of $14 million and weve

23 created 15000 jobs So the group that Im

24 working with we believe that this is achievable

25 But the first step is to get site control we

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1 have that Now the next step is we get the

2 charter then we have the ability to be able to

3 raise the funds you know to put this project

4 together Ill be happy to answer any questions

5 you may have

6 MS ALEXANDER Given that the school has

7 already opened and is successfully educating

8 students we believe that there wasnt good cause

9 in fact to deny the application and we will be

10 happy to answer any questions with respect to the

11 specific categories I just didnt want to go

12 through them twice given that its late in the

13 day So I just wanted to give you a background

14 thats where we are And we respectfully request

15 that you grant our appeal and thank you very

16 much

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

18 Representatives for the district

19 MR McDUFFIE Thank you members of the

20 Commission Again my name is Brian McDuffie

21 Im Executive Director for Policy and Compliance

22 with Duval County Public Schools

23 With me to my left is Ms Jackie Bowen

24 Executive Director for Academic Services

25 Ms Angela Heiney who is Coordinator of Financial

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1 Reporting We also have Karen Chastain who is

2 Chief Legal Officer for the district as well as

3 Shanita Roper and Anita Henry-Smith who are from

4 our charter schools office

5 The first thing that I want to touch upon is

6 the charter school climate in Duval County We

7 approved 13 out of 15 applications that went to

8 the Board during this last cycle We currently

9 have 21 charter schools operating in Duval County

10 And I think if every application or every

11 applicant that had good intentions had their

12 charter school approved there would be an

13 overwhelming number of charter schools It is not

14 necessarily about worthwhile intentions

15 And there has never been any question on our

16 part about the integrity of the people trying to

17 start this charter school none whatsoever They

18 appear to be good people with good intentions It

19 is not about that It is also not about

20 redeveloping downtown Jacksonville It is about

21 the children

22 And thats what we have been given the task

23 of doing as a sponsor to look and make sure that

24 when these applications come in that the children

25 are protected

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1 What Im going to do today is basically

2 provide the Commission with a slight overview with

3 respect to Issue 2 Ms Heiney will talk with

4 respect to Issue 3 And Ms Bowen will talk with

5 respect to Issue 1 just as an overview

6 So moving to Issue 2 governance the first

7 thing -- again keep within the time

8 constraints -- as a highlight the applicant is a

9 private school That in and on its face is a

10 reason for denial If you look at Florida

11 Statutes 100233(3)(b) a private school cannot be

12 a charter school

13 Moving on to management With respect to the

14 management section we were provided with

15 essentially a lot of vague information They

16 failed to give the management structure job

17 descriptions for teachers the administrative

18 positions They failed to give criteria as to how

19 they were going to select teachers And they also

20 failed to describe how they were going to monitor

21 teacher certification as well as how to fill

22 status

23 Based on these measures with respect to

24 Issue 2 under governance and management we feel

25 that the School Board had competent substantial

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1 evidence and good cause to deny the application

2 And next to speak will be Ms Jackie Bowen

3 MS BOWEN Good afternoon Im Jacqueline

4 Bowen the Academic Services Executive Director

5 I do appreciate the applicants passion for

6 students thats why Im here But I would also

7 like to reiterate as our counsel has said that I

8 am not a historical resident of Jacksonville And

9 as we review applications I have no knowledge of

10 many of the historical factors or the political

11 things that are behind it having only been in the

12 city for 12 years My goal and every analysis or

13 review of the complete instructional plan is that

14 it benefit children

15 So in reviewing the actual application there

16 were great deficiencies in the areas of the

17 guiding principles the targeted population was

18 very unclear the education program design the

19 curriculum plan the student performance

20 assessments evaluation the actual educational

21 supporting plan for the ESE population as well as

22 ELL students

23 So for example within this application

24 its supposed to provide any reader or reviewer a

25 very clear picture of what a student will need to

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1 do and what they will experience as they are

2 attending that institution meaning that I should

3 have an understanding of the applicant And the

4 applicant was real clear that he wanted to

5 provide the whole child and provide that

6 experience

7 But it didnt give me a clear understanding

8 or the reviewers upon my team about the

9 structure how the things that were identified

10 were truly going to support and guide teachers

11 decisions to make sure theyre meeting the

12 standards of the NGSS and the Common Core and

13 ultimately graduating

14 The application was indistinguishable between

15 the targeted population because at one point it

16 talked about at-risk students from a particular

17 5-mile geographic dynamics and then it said all

18 students no matter what according to the

19 standard of expectation

20 The applicant briefly described a pre-med

21 program a dual enrollment advanced placement

22 classes And the appeal reiterated the error by

23 describing instructional programs and learning

24 strategies but they failed to provide a clear

25 picture as to how you were going to take

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1 struggling students or any student to that

2 advanced and rigorous curriculum

3 And as we can say that the standard requires

4 the application to explain not only what the

5 school is going to teach but how they were going

6 to teach it I was continually searching which

7 Im not required to do throughout the entire

8 application to see how was this instruction going

9 to be -- what is that child going to experience on

10 a daily basis And it was very unclear

11 Statute 100233 also states that the charter

12 application must have a detailed curriculum plan

13 a curriculum plan not a curriculum resource a

14 plan for instruction that illustrates how those

15 students are going to be provided services to meet

16 those graduation requirements We are in the

17 business of graduating students

18 So the application also didnt provide a very

19 clear reading curriculum They referenced the

20 Just Read Florida Website which Im very happy

21 that they were there supporting but it is a

22 resource document it does not outline a

23 curriculum plan And unfortunately -- and Im

24 saying this in this building -- it really only

25 sports primary education When you get towards

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1 secondary the resources become very limited And

2 I know theyre working on that

3 So the statute requires that we deny the

4 application on the fact that the reading

5 curriculum plan was not sufficient at all

6 Another key issue that was concerning which

7 led to a good cause denial of the application was

8 that a risk of students not being prepared for the

9 FCAT Because they identified assessments which

10 Im very familiar with failed to have the

11 measuring tools that would guide teacher

12 instruction in being able to support deficiencies

13 or make accommodations or get those students ready

14 for that you know accelerated dual enrollment

15 advanced AP or pre-med curriculum

16 Im going to wrap it up because I know

17 everybody is ready to go When we talk about our

18 ELL students and we are doing a lot within our

19 districts to better support all students there

20 was really -- I struggled with finding out how the

21 students were going to enter our school And an

22 ELL student is just one designation because you

23 can have an ELL student that also has an ESE

24 designation and has some little deficiencies in

25 particular other areas

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1 There was no -- they failed to demonstrate

2 how they were going to make choices of selecting

3 the appropriate materials to meet the needs of all

4 students

5 To say we will select resources but there

6 was no clear indication of how those decisions

7 would be made The assessments didnt provide

8 that detailed information to guide that choice so

9 upon that there was no reason but to have a good

10 cause for denial

11 MS HEINEY Good afternoon My name is

12 Angela Heiney H-e-i-n-e-y and I reviewed the

13 business plan for the applicant As an overview

14 the entire business plan did not meet the standard

15 with the exception of the transportation which

16 only partially met the standard

17 There were quite a few reasons that we found

18 for this The biggest -- there were statutory

19 failures all over the place 100233(6)(a)5

20 states that there has to be an annual financial

21 plan based on projected revenues and expenditures

22 What we found is that the revenues and

23 expenditures provided were unsubstantiated

24 unsupported and there was missing money all over

25 the place For example on Page 107 the

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1 applicant states theyre going to take out

2 $500000 in loans to fund their startup however

3 if you look at their five-year business plan

4 there is no repayment for those loans And they

5 provided absolutely no correspondence from any

6 lending institution that says theyre willing to

7 give half a million dollars and not expect a penny

8 back for over five years In this current

9 economic climate that rarely if ever happens

10 Ive never seen it

11 The application and the denial or the

12 response to the denial that was filed -- the

13 notice of appeal -- there were several points that

14 were made in our denial however they never even

15 discussed those

16 For example the application specifically

17 states that they plan on contracting out HR and

18 accounting services however they dont know how

19 much it is so they didnt even include that in

20 their budget For some of our schools that is

21 thousands and thousands of dollars a year just

22 missing

23 Theres inconsistencies Mr Whitaker just

24 stated that the City of Jacksonville has not

25 promised the money However Page 104 states that

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1 they have a verbal commitment There is no

2 evidence of any commitment no letters from former

3 Mayor Delaney no letters from current Mayor

4 Browns office anybody even suggesting that they

5 know who this school is and that theyre willing

6 to support it

7 A second statutory failing occurs again in

8 (6)(a)5 where it states that the application must

9 have a description of controls that safeguard

10 financing

11 During the general help session the

12 applicants were told they must give detailed

13 procedures on certain areas Why Because these

14 are the areas that consistently have fraud

15 errors thefts mistakes We dont like to

16 believe that will happen at schools but frankly

17 bad things do happen

18 They were told you must have accounts

19 payables accounts receivables cash management

20 payroll those areas Why This is where weve

21 seen problems happen There was nothing There

22 was some general policy given on Pages 113 and 14

23 And they state on Page 113 there will be

24 implementation of many internal financial

25 controls however that is not a description of

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1 controls which is what is mandated by the

2 statute

3 Another failing occurs on Statute 21839

4 This statute mandates the use of an independent

5 certified public account for performing annual

6 financial reporting so the audited financial

7 statements which are required

8 In Attachment 7 it states that the same

9 person providing accounting services will also

10 perform the auditing services According to the

11 American Institute of CPAs this is actually a

12 violation of independence and an ethics violation

13 itself So anybody who is willing to do both is

14 not by statute an independent auditor And they

15 have stated in their application thats what

16 theyre going to do

17 When you see one statutory violation that is

18 certainly competent and substantial evidence for

19 denial When you see at least three just in one

20 section now were getting overwhelming grounds

21 for denial

22 But we also saw areas in the facilities where

23 they simply state that they will meet statute

24 Saying youre going to meet statute is not the

25 same as explaining what youre going to do

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1 Theyre stating in their financials that theyre

2 going to have $3 million worth of renovations

3 What on earth are you going to do for $3 million

4 Mr Whitaker stated that the building is just

5 a shell However the application states that it

6 is currently being in use by a daycare for the

7 Urban League So whats going on Theres no

8 consistency between whats being said whats

9 being done in the application

10 In that stance we do not make assumptions

11 We must go with what is written So any verbal

12 statements we cant justify that because all we

13 can hold the applicant to is what has been written

14 in that document

15 We have a problem with food service They

16 state that theyre not going to use NSLP and

17 theyre going to contract a vendor which is

18 perfectly acceptable except their target

19 population is going to be children that are at

20 risk Specifically this is a very high population

21 of children who will qualify for free and reduced

22 lunch What about the kids that cant pay for

23 their food what are they going to do all day in

24 class We cant starve children thats wrong

25 Theres no money in the budget for -shy

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

2 MS HEINEY Im sorry

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

4 MS HEINEY Theres no money in the budget

5 for food so theres no money theres no plan

6 And this is an area that has direct effect on

7 health and well-being of the children

8 The action plan that they gave is completely

9 unrealistic and does not meet up against their

10 academic standards For example they state that

11 theyre going to use Achieve 3000 Achieve 3000

12 is a difficult product to use It does require

13 training

14 And the startup budget and the statement of

15 cash flow is there is no money whatsoever for

16 teacher training So are these teachers supposed

17 to walk in on their first day knowing how to use

18 it The action plan says theres going to be

19 training but theres no money for it so how are

20 you going do it As I said theres quite a bit

21 of reasons And if you have any questions we

22 would be more than happy to respond

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay This takes us to

24 Issue 1 whether the applicant failed to comply

25 with the educational plan regarding guiding

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1 principles target population educational program

2 design curriculum plan student performance

3 assessment and evaluation exceptional students

4 and English language learners

5 So the school if you want to have a couple

6 of minutes to speak directly to the educational

7 plan and then well give the district the same

8 amount of time

9 MS ALEXANDER Sure With respect to the

10 mission statement we believe that the denial was

11 not supported by competent substantial evidence in

12 any way For example the School Board alleges

13 that we didnt provide an adequate mission

14 statement or describe how the school utilizes

15 guiding principles

16 As you can kind of get the sense from hearing

17 Dr Myers hes got a pretty sophisticated sense

18 of mission And with respect to the mission

19 statement the application specifically says on

20 Page 4 The mission statement of the charter high

21 school is to provide an exemplary personalized

22 learning program in a supportive resource rich

23 contemporary learning environment Stephen Biko

24 Charter High School is dedicated to excellence and

25 committed to nurturing passionate lifelong

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1 learners

2 It also says that The school will meet the

3 high standards of student achievement by

4 supporting positive academic outcomes for students

5 by addressing the academic social economical -shy

6 Im sorry -- emotional and behavioral needs of

7 enrolled students And it says that High

8 standards will be evident which will offer parents

9 and guardians of students currently attending the

10 elementary and charter schools of Duval County the

11 flexibility to choose the school

12 So our view is that if you actually look at

13 the application there is a specific mission its

14 very clear and in fact weve met the standard

15 Just as an aside there was a reference to a

16 private school cant be a charter school

17 Dr Myers started the private school on donations

18 alone in the interim because he wanted to try to

19 start offering education to the average students

20 as quickly as possible He consulted with the DOE

21 and was told that in fact he could open up the

22 school and that if the charter is granted he

23 could transition from the private school into the

24 charter model so there isnt any prohibition

25 against how hes doing it

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1 But our view is if you look at the

2 application there is a clear mission its

3 outlined there and it did meet the standard So

4 thank you

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

6 District

7 DR MYERS Can I

8 CHAIRMAN CHU You have about 30 seconds

9 DR MYERS Thank you I contacted the

10 Department of Education and they expressed to me

11 that I have to close the school and once I close

12 the school every child has to apply So that was

13 done prior to opening up the private school

14 As they stated theres nowhere in that

15 application where it states (inaudible) So all

16 of these things are preposterous in what theyre

17 saying and its just things that theyre trying

18 to elaborate to make the application look bad

19 As I expressed to you Board members this

20 application was approved similar last year It

21 was the exact application So everything that

22 shes coming up with and all three of them does

23 not make sense it does not It does not weigh

24 this application God knows it does not And

25 they cannot give you sufficient reasons why

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1 Thats why they come in with all of these

2 fictitious false allegations against this

3 application Thats all theyre doing They

4 approved this application last year they did

5 And thats all Im asking for

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right District

7 MR McDUFFIE Just briefly and I will turn

8 the mic over to Ms Bowen

9 This is the second time youve heard that

10 there was a mirror application from last year I

11 would like to ask the Commission to go to Page 39

12 of the application There is a specific provision

13 in the application which says if the school

14 intends to replicate an existing school design

15 you are supposed to notify the district under E

16 and F in that section

17 In their application that section is blank

18 okay So they are replicating an existing school

19 design they did not notify us of that in the

20 application

21 And secondly that also takes away the

22 innovative factor of the school If theyre

23 replicating an existing school what is innovative

24 about their charter school

25 Just briefly again with respect to that

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1 private school the application is in the name of

2 Stephen Biko Private Charter School so it is a

3 private school that is making the application

4 MS BOWEN I would just like to add that if

5 there was an application that was approved last

6 year within the past five years we would be glad

7 to go back and look if theres a name thats

8 submitted for us to do reference But when we

9 looked through all of our prior applications we

10 could find no areas where there was similar an

11 exact model of an approved application that had

12 already been approved by the district

13 But to respond to point one as far as the

14 guiding principle section the mission statement

15 was general it was vague and it did not describe

16 meaningful or measurable priority It

17 inefficiently defines the values of the school and

18 was inconsistent with the appellants subsequent

19 educational program plan The question of the

20 guidance embedded within question one clearly says

21 that it should explain what the school intends to

22 do for whom and to what degree And I failed to

23 be able to fully answer all of those questions by

24 reading the statement

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Were going to have a QampA

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1 session so what were going to do now is let me

2 ask the Commission members do you have any

3 questions

4 MS BRUBAKER I would like to hear how

5 you -shy

6 DR MYERS Me

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes Dr Myers How you plan

8 on taking those low performing students to be able

9 to do dual enrollment or AP classes

10 DR MYERS Well first of all as those

11 students arrive in the school various testing

12 will be done on those students TABE testing also

13 WRAT4 testing and various things We would look

14 at the matrix of where the kid came from

15 We have a child now that came to us Georgia

16 from one of the schools in Georgia where he was

17 functioning at a lower level The WRAT4 which is

18 designed to motivate the child and test the child

19 TABE test then we get a matrix from that and we

20 set a curriculum for -- excuse me -- we set the

21 curriculum for the child give the child

22 appropriate courses that the child has already

23 taken or retake again

24 So we move the child in small groups which

25 would be one-on-one learning or it could be group

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1 learning activities The chairs in the classroom

2 are set up and a table where one to one and one to

3 one where the child can model the other child and

4 move forward

5 The APEX curriculum which is used in Duval

6 County Public Schools they just finished using

7 the APEX curriculum in one of their failing

8 schools which moved -- increased the grade two

9 grades -- I think one or two grades at Andrew

10 Jackson High School They have the APEX They

11 have several schools in Duval County thats using

12 the APEX curriculum So its a Florida curriculum

13 that is being used

14 As they expressed the application -- when I

15 looked at the application since I was using the

16 APEX curriculum I said okay why not modify this

17 and put it back into context where its being

18 used So what were doing is we just wrote the

19 application in regards to what they wanted They

20 wanted APEX We put the APEX in there Its a

21 proven fact that its successful in their public

22 schools

23 MS ALEXANDER Can you answer her questions

24 I think which is how you are going to move the low

25 learners up to eventually taking the AP test

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1 DR MYERS Right Im sorry I know I only

2 have a few more minutes or a few seconds But

3 eventually as they progress in each area in math

4 science social studies then we test again So

5 we test at the beginning test at the end

6 And as they -- at the midterm level it tells

7 us whether or not theyre going to be remediated

8 in the course or move forward As they move

9 forward we get the curriculum more rigorous again

10 for them and the next course which is in line so

11 basically one on one and group learning is

12 efficient for them Theyre going to have to take

13 the same courses but if theyre testing at lower

14 levels thats where the individualized

15 instruction will help them

16 Did I answer it

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

18 respond to that

19 MR McDUFFIE Ms Bowen would like to

20 respond But I just want to make it also clear

21 that that -- what was just explained verbally is

22 not in the application

23 MS BOWEN The APEX curriculum is about a

24 curriculum for a set population of students as

25 well as the TABE Assessment they test and measure

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1 students basic skills The expectation under the

2 Common Core the FCAT 20 far exceeds that

3 curriculum And yes we have used it with some

4 of our most lowest performing students and Andrew

5 Jackson did make some gains but they still have

6 19 percent of their students are reading

7 proficiently

8 So my concern is with that curriculum I know

9 that there is something that you needed to have a

10 better indication that was going to provide the

11 teacher with a clear pathway of how to meet those

12 gaps By giving me an assessment thats only

13 measuring my minimum skills it does not

14 demonstrate the expectation of the Lexile level

15 thats required for a college entrance And on

16 Page 39 of his application it clearly states for

17 students who are interested in pre-med coursework

18 The expectation for reading cannot be

19 provided with the diagnosis information that you

20 get with a TABE Assessment or an APEX curriculum

21 Page 10 -- Im sorry I said Page 39 its stuck

22 in my head for some reason -- but on Page 10 it

23 talks about pre-med students and the other

24 innovative -- because thats what hes saying

25 its one of the innovative factors of this

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1 program

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you Are there other

3 questions from the Commission members

4 MS BRADLEY I have a question

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Verdya

6 MS BRADLEY My question is for the school

7 the applicant Is this a solely online program

8 DR MYERS No maam Its basically online

9 and direct instruction

10 MS BRADLEY Do you discuss direct

11 instruction in here

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY The reason that I ask that

14 question is the questions in the application asks

15 specifically for a description of the curriculum

16 a description of the reading program And in your

17 responses your responses pretty much tie back to

18 the APEX curriculum so it appears that it is

19 solely reliant on And then all of the

20 documentation that you gave was from the APEX

21 program So I was just wondering is it just

22 solely online

23 DR MYERS The majority of it but theres a

24 piece where the direct instruction is in place

25 with the child because the children are culled

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1 out for the particular course learning for the

2 subject area that theyre doing The regular

3 curriculum comes in -- the APEX Lexile learning

4 comes in Everything is designed where its

5 implemented on the laptop for the child If the

6 child needs direct instruction the child is

7 culled out into an environment where he or she

8 receives the one-on-one instruction

9 MS BRADLEY Did you discuss that in here

10 DR MYERS Im pretty sure I did

11 MS ALEXANDER What page are you looking at

12 for these

13 MS BRADLEY Well it kind of goes back and

14 forth It starts on Page 16 where it starts

15 talking about the educational program and then it

16 gives me probably about 20 30 pages on APEX and

17 then it goes into the reading curriculum But Im

18 not seeing anywhere where theres any supplement

19 to that

20 Because even the question on Page 16 was

21 Describe the proposed reading or educational

22 program it sort of goes through elements of the

23 APEX program Then on Page 68 it says Describe

24 the reading curriculum

25 DR MYERS Yes maam If you look at

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1 the -shy

2 MS HITCHCOCK Stand up please

3 DR MYERS Im sorry

4 CHAIRMAN CHU If you could come to the mic

5 that would be very helpful because our court

6 reporter is trying to get it all down

7 DR MYERS Im sorry The bullet there

8 says Direct instruction individual and small

9 group instruction led by highly-qualified

10 teachers

11 MS ESPOSITO Say the page

12 MS BRADLEY Thats on Page 16 But its

13 just part of the -- its sort of an isolated

14 bullet but it doesnt explain it any further than

15 that You know it doesnt tell me that there is

16 going to be a pull-out portion

17 DR MYERS Right But as I stated I just

18 put a little piece in there because thats just a

19 little piece of the curriculum and thats why I

20 just mentioned a little piece of it there The

21 majority of it is an online based curriculum

22 MS HODGENS I have a question for the

23 school

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

25 MS HODGENS I am confused on the targeted

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1 population Im trying to get it on the motion

2 sheet so Im going to go to targeted population

3 first And I am a little confused on it because I

4 can read what you say on Page 12 And on Page 12

5 you talk about being open to all students and

6 then you talk about low-performing students and

7 then you go back to all students

8 And then when I go to Page 41 the curriculum

9 design you talk about students needing credit

10 recovery And then I continue on and I see AP

11 courses honor courses And again I dont want

12 to allude that I dont believe that kids can do

13 those courses but I want to understand what

14 population youre really looking at

15 DR MYERS Were looking at all students

16 within that demographic And within the

17 demographics it is a lower level You have lower

18 level one level two basically they are coming

19 from the downtown sector area within that 5-mile

20 radius area of the downtown

21 So when I say all students because a

22 charter school cannot deny a student from applying

23 or coming in all students are accepted if they

24 can meet transportation needs to come to school

25 So as I expressed to you thats what

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1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

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20

21

22

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24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

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1 African-American to the community and one that

2 can put this together I would be blessed to have

3 a great partner of Joe Whitaker who has worked

4 with me diligently on this

5 The school is open now Weve opened as a

6 private school We had our first graduate this

7 December that went through all of the standards of

8 Duval County She came to us from a failing

9 school a failing school that was not progressing

10 But now she went from scoring a 14 on the ACT to a

11 19 That says that were doing something

12 We have up to 35 kids that are accelerating

13 using a curriculum called APEX curriculum which

14 is in their county They fostered the curriculum

15 Whats wrong with it Nothing

16 I know Im speaking but Im speaking from my

17 heart because this touches me Im one of theirs

18 educator and I have to be treated like this It

19 is wrong and thats how I feel because Im only

20 speaking from my heart And it hurts me today it

21 all hurts me All of this is for -- because this

22 is mirrored off an application that they approved

23 last year last year they approved this

24 application

25 So why should I have to be subject to what

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1 Im going through And it is wrong And Im only

2 speaking from my heart You cant throw me in the

3 garbage can speaking from my heart thats what

4 Im doing today

5 And Im just asking you to give me the

6 opportunity to show these individuals from my

7 county that I can be successful I am being

8 successful with these kids Im doing a great

9 job And former Mayor Delaney he inspired me to

10 do this because he said Greg you are passionate

11 Most individuals that open up charter schools open

12 them up for the wrong reasons they open them up

13 for funds I opening up because I love kids and I

14 want to change lives because Im tired of seeing

15 children go into the prison system and Im tired

16 of seeing children going wayward

17 The young lady that finished our school

18 shes now attending Virginia College received a

19 full scholarship Thats what this is all about

20 And if it could change my life imagine how it

21 could change other lives

22 So thats why it makes me upset it makes me

23 angry because Ive been going through this and

24 its all about this beautiful building Old

25 Stanton High School located right behind the new

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1 courthouse Thats what its all about All this

2 is is just a dog and pony show this is what its

3 about because they feel as though Im going to

4 take the kids from (inaudible) and Andrew Jackson

5 Thank you so much for listening to me and

6 Ill be responding to your questions

7 MS ALEXANDER As you can tell hes very

8 passionate about his school And he was in fact

9 urged by former Mayor Delaney to start the charter

10 school

11 And the building that hes showing and

12 referring to is actually right behind -- as he

13 said its right behind the brand new courthouse

14 And in fact the development authority which Joe

15 Whitaker will speak to has actually pledged funds

16 to refurbish the building And thats where the

17 charter school will be housed

18 And all of those plans are in place but in

19 fact because we dont have charter school

20 approval we cant go forward and get the funds to

21 rehab the school thats right behind the

22 courthouse in downtown Its part of the

23 revitalization district of downtown Jacksonville

24 What he forgot to stay was not only was he a

25 product of the education system in Jacksonville

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1 but he taught in the Duval County Schools for

2 many many years He was a football coach he was

3 a teacher he was an assistant principle he was a

4 principal in fact he ran three Drop In Academy

5 Schools in Duval before in fact deciding to open

6 up the new charter school at the urgence of former

7 Mayor John Delaney who is in fact on his Board

8 and as you all know is now the current President

9 of the University of North Florida So thats

10 really the backdrop of this

11 And Im going to turn it over to Joe

12 Whitaker who is on the Board and will give you a

13 little sense of whats going on with the building

14 so you get a sense of the whole background here

15 Thanks

16 MR WHITAKER Good afternoon My name is

17 Joe Whitaker and Im with the Mayors Office of

18 Economic Development for the City of Jacksonville

19 And I got intrigued by Mr Myers desire to open

20 up a charter school because I ran a loan program

21 for the City and I assisted him in another project

22 that he did to put something back into his

23 neighborhood So Ive watched him and Ive seen

24 his passion and his energy for getting things

25 done

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1 And one of the things that I admire about

2 Dr Myers is that he does what he says hes going

3 to do when he says hes going to do it And

4 thats fairly rare in my opinion

5 I would like to just clear up any other

6 misunderstandings The City of Jacksonville has

7 yet not pledged funds for his project until we

8 have a charter school designation so that we dont

9 waste a lot of time trying to raise money But

10 essentially the Old Stanton High School was built

11 in 1901 and it is now just a shell and it is

12 governed by a not-for-profit Board And we have

13 achieved the first step of the goal and that is

14 they have given us site control

15 So we do have the ability if were granted a

16 charter to be able to go out then and raise the

17 funds to be able to rehabilitate this building and

18 actually put upwards of 400 young students in

19 there in high school

20 And we dont have a high school in downtown

21 Jacksonville and we believe that this opportunity

22 to redevelop the Old Stanton building is a

23 worthwhile endeavor on behalf of our redevelopment

24 efforts and were anxious to do that

25 We have put together a Board that we believe

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1 has the fundraising capacity to be able to

2 generate enough private capital to get this kicked

3 off And the City of Jacksonville has an historic

4 loan fund that we have the ability to be able to

5 get some money from to finish the product And we

6 think its going to be a success

7 Downtown Jacksonville is going through its

8 own renaissance We have people moving downtown

9 and were bringing more retail downtown and our

10 Mayor is focused on rebuilding downtown So we

11 believe that we have an opportunity to be

12 successful

13 I chose to volunteer to be on Gregs Board

14 because I believe in him And we have been

15 working to get other prominent people in the

16 community on this Board so that we can make a

17 difference Thats what this is all about

18 As an economic development professional with

19 the City of Jacksonville for the last 30 years

20 Ive been involved in a lot of projects 156

21 projects since 2001 and weve generated private

22 capital investments of $14 million and weve

23 created 15000 jobs So the group that Im

24 working with we believe that this is achievable

25 But the first step is to get site control we

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1 have that Now the next step is we get the

2 charter then we have the ability to be able to

3 raise the funds you know to put this project

4 together Ill be happy to answer any questions

5 you may have

6 MS ALEXANDER Given that the school has

7 already opened and is successfully educating

8 students we believe that there wasnt good cause

9 in fact to deny the application and we will be

10 happy to answer any questions with respect to the

11 specific categories I just didnt want to go

12 through them twice given that its late in the

13 day So I just wanted to give you a background

14 thats where we are And we respectfully request

15 that you grant our appeal and thank you very

16 much

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

18 Representatives for the district

19 MR McDUFFIE Thank you members of the

20 Commission Again my name is Brian McDuffie

21 Im Executive Director for Policy and Compliance

22 with Duval County Public Schools

23 With me to my left is Ms Jackie Bowen

24 Executive Director for Academic Services

25 Ms Angela Heiney who is Coordinator of Financial

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1 Reporting We also have Karen Chastain who is

2 Chief Legal Officer for the district as well as

3 Shanita Roper and Anita Henry-Smith who are from

4 our charter schools office

5 The first thing that I want to touch upon is

6 the charter school climate in Duval County We

7 approved 13 out of 15 applications that went to

8 the Board during this last cycle We currently

9 have 21 charter schools operating in Duval County

10 And I think if every application or every

11 applicant that had good intentions had their

12 charter school approved there would be an

13 overwhelming number of charter schools It is not

14 necessarily about worthwhile intentions

15 And there has never been any question on our

16 part about the integrity of the people trying to

17 start this charter school none whatsoever They

18 appear to be good people with good intentions It

19 is not about that It is also not about

20 redeveloping downtown Jacksonville It is about

21 the children

22 And thats what we have been given the task

23 of doing as a sponsor to look and make sure that

24 when these applications come in that the children

25 are protected

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1 What Im going to do today is basically

2 provide the Commission with a slight overview with

3 respect to Issue 2 Ms Heiney will talk with

4 respect to Issue 3 And Ms Bowen will talk with

5 respect to Issue 1 just as an overview

6 So moving to Issue 2 governance the first

7 thing -- again keep within the time

8 constraints -- as a highlight the applicant is a

9 private school That in and on its face is a

10 reason for denial If you look at Florida

11 Statutes 100233(3)(b) a private school cannot be

12 a charter school

13 Moving on to management With respect to the

14 management section we were provided with

15 essentially a lot of vague information They

16 failed to give the management structure job

17 descriptions for teachers the administrative

18 positions They failed to give criteria as to how

19 they were going to select teachers And they also

20 failed to describe how they were going to monitor

21 teacher certification as well as how to fill

22 status

23 Based on these measures with respect to

24 Issue 2 under governance and management we feel

25 that the School Board had competent substantial

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1 evidence and good cause to deny the application

2 And next to speak will be Ms Jackie Bowen

3 MS BOWEN Good afternoon Im Jacqueline

4 Bowen the Academic Services Executive Director

5 I do appreciate the applicants passion for

6 students thats why Im here But I would also

7 like to reiterate as our counsel has said that I

8 am not a historical resident of Jacksonville And

9 as we review applications I have no knowledge of

10 many of the historical factors or the political

11 things that are behind it having only been in the

12 city for 12 years My goal and every analysis or

13 review of the complete instructional plan is that

14 it benefit children

15 So in reviewing the actual application there

16 were great deficiencies in the areas of the

17 guiding principles the targeted population was

18 very unclear the education program design the

19 curriculum plan the student performance

20 assessments evaluation the actual educational

21 supporting plan for the ESE population as well as

22 ELL students

23 So for example within this application

24 its supposed to provide any reader or reviewer a

25 very clear picture of what a student will need to

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1 do and what they will experience as they are

2 attending that institution meaning that I should

3 have an understanding of the applicant And the

4 applicant was real clear that he wanted to

5 provide the whole child and provide that

6 experience

7 But it didnt give me a clear understanding

8 or the reviewers upon my team about the

9 structure how the things that were identified

10 were truly going to support and guide teachers

11 decisions to make sure theyre meeting the

12 standards of the NGSS and the Common Core and

13 ultimately graduating

14 The application was indistinguishable between

15 the targeted population because at one point it

16 talked about at-risk students from a particular

17 5-mile geographic dynamics and then it said all

18 students no matter what according to the

19 standard of expectation

20 The applicant briefly described a pre-med

21 program a dual enrollment advanced placement

22 classes And the appeal reiterated the error by

23 describing instructional programs and learning

24 strategies but they failed to provide a clear

25 picture as to how you were going to take

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1 struggling students or any student to that

2 advanced and rigorous curriculum

3 And as we can say that the standard requires

4 the application to explain not only what the

5 school is going to teach but how they were going

6 to teach it I was continually searching which

7 Im not required to do throughout the entire

8 application to see how was this instruction going

9 to be -- what is that child going to experience on

10 a daily basis And it was very unclear

11 Statute 100233 also states that the charter

12 application must have a detailed curriculum plan

13 a curriculum plan not a curriculum resource a

14 plan for instruction that illustrates how those

15 students are going to be provided services to meet

16 those graduation requirements We are in the

17 business of graduating students

18 So the application also didnt provide a very

19 clear reading curriculum They referenced the

20 Just Read Florida Website which Im very happy

21 that they were there supporting but it is a

22 resource document it does not outline a

23 curriculum plan And unfortunately -- and Im

24 saying this in this building -- it really only

25 sports primary education When you get towards

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1 secondary the resources become very limited And

2 I know theyre working on that

3 So the statute requires that we deny the

4 application on the fact that the reading

5 curriculum plan was not sufficient at all

6 Another key issue that was concerning which

7 led to a good cause denial of the application was

8 that a risk of students not being prepared for the

9 FCAT Because they identified assessments which

10 Im very familiar with failed to have the

11 measuring tools that would guide teacher

12 instruction in being able to support deficiencies

13 or make accommodations or get those students ready

14 for that you know accelerated dual enrollment

15 advanced AP or pre-med curriculum

16 Im going to wrap it up because I know

17 everybody is ready to go When we talk about our

18 ELL students and we are doing a lot within our

19 districts to better support all students there

20 was really -- I struggled with finding out how the

21 students were going to enter our school And an

22 ELL student is just one designation because you

23 can have an ELL student that also has an ESE

24 designation and has some little deficiencies in

25 particular other areas

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1 There was no -- they failed to demonstrate

2 how they were going to make choices of selecting

3 the appropriate materials to meet the needs of all

4 students

5 To say we will select resources but there

6 was no clear indication of how those decisions

7 would be made The assessments didnt provide

8 that detailed information to guide that choice so

9 upon that there was no reason but to have a good

10 cause for denial

11 MS HEINEY Good afternoon My name is

12 Angela Heiney H-e-i-n-e-y and I reviewed the

13 business plan for the applicant As an overview

14 the entire business plan did not meet the standard

15 with the exception of the transportation which

16 only partially met the standard

17 There were quite a few reasons that we found

18 for this The biggest -- there were statutory

19 failures all over the place 100233(6)(a)5

20 states that there has to be an annual financial

21 plan based on projected revenues and expenditures

22 What we found is that the revenues and

23 expenditures provided were unsubstantiated

24 unsupported and there was missing money all over

25 the place For example on Page 107 the

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1 applicant states theyre going to take out

2 $500000 in loans to fund their startup however

3 if you look at their five-year business plan

4 there is no repayment for those loans And they

5 provided absolutely no correspondence from any

6 lending institution that says theyre willing to

7 give half a million dollars and not expect a penny

8 back for over five years In this current

9 economic climate that rarely if ever happens

10 Ive never seen it

11 The application and the denial or the

12 response to the denial that was filed -- the

13 notice of appeal -- there were several points that

14 were made in our denial however they never even

15 discussed those

16 For example the application specifically

17 states that they plan on contracting out HR and

18 accounting services however they dont know how

19 much it is so they didnt even include that in

20 their budget For some of our schools that is

21 thousands and thousands of dollars a year just

22 missing

23 Theres inconsistencies Mr Whitaker just

24 stated that the City of Jacksonville has not

25 promised the money However Page 104 states that

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1 they have a verbal commitment There is no

2 evidence of any commitment no letters from former

3 Mayor Delaney no letters from current Mayor

4 Browns office anybody even suggesting that they

5 know who this school is and that theyre willing

6 to support it

7 A second statutory failing occurs again in

8 (6)(a)5 where it states that the application must

9 have a description of controls that safeguard

10 financing

11 During the general help session the

12 applicants were told they must give detailed

13 procedures on certain areas Why Because these

14 are the areas that consistently have fraud

15 errors thefts mistakes We dont like to

16 believe that will happen at schools but frankly

17 bad things do happen

18 They were told you must have accounts

19 payables accounts receivables cash management

20 payroll those areas Why This is where weve

21 seen problems happen There was nothing There

22 was some general policy given on Pages 113 and 14

23 And they state on Page 113 there will be

24 implementation of many internal financial

25 controls however that is not a description of

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1 controls which is what is mandated by the

2 statute

3 Another failing occurs on Statute 21839

4 This statute mandates the use of an independent

5 certified public account for performing annual

6 financial reporting so the audited financial

7 statements which are required

8 In Attachment 7 it states that the same

9 person providing accounting services will also

10 perform the auditing services According to the

11 American Institute of CPAs this is actually a

12 violation of independence and an ethics violation

13 itself So anybody who is willing to do both is

14 not by statute an independent auditor And they

15 have stated in their application thats what

16 theyre going to do

17 When you see one statutory violation that is

18 certainly competent and substantial evidence for

19 denial When you see at least three just in one

20 section now were getting overwhelming grounds

21 for denial

22 But we also saw areas in the facilities where

23 they simply state that they will meet statute

24 Saying youre going to meet statute is not the

25 same as explaining what youre going to do

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1 Theyre stating in their financials that theyre

2 going to have $3 million worth of renovations

3 What on earth are you going to do for $3 million

4 Mr Whitaker stated that the building is just

5 a shell However the application states that it

6 is currently being in use by a daycare for the

7 Urban League So whats going on Theres no

8 consistency between whats being said whats

9 being done in the application

10 In that stance we do not make assumptions

11 We must go with what is written So any verbal

12 statements we cant justify that because all we

13 can hold the applicant to is what has been written

14 in that document

15 We have a problem with food service They

16 state that theyre not going to use NSLP and

17 theyre going to contract a vendor which is

18 perfectly acceptable except their target

19 population is going to be children that are at

20 risk Specifically this is a very high population

21 of children who will qualify for free and reduced

22 lunch What about the kids that cant pay for

23 their food what are they going to do all day in

24 class We cant starve children thats wrong

25 Theres no money in the budget for -shy

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

2 MS HEINEY Im sorry

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

4 MS HEINEY Theres no money in the budget

5 for food so theres no money theres no plan

6 And this is an area that has direct effect on

7 health and well-being of the children

8 The action plan that they gave is completely

9 unrealistic and does not meet up against their

10 academic standards For example they state that

11 theyre going to use Achieve 3000 Achieve 3000

12 is a difficult product to use It does require

13 training

14 And the startup budget and the statement of

15 cash flow is there is no money whatsoever for

16 teacher training So are these teachers supposed

17 to walk in on their first day knowing how to use

18 it The action plan says theres going to be

19 training but theres no money for it so how are

20 you going do it As I said theres quite a bit

21 of reasons And if you have any questions we

22 would be more than happy to respond

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay This takes us to

24 Issue 1 whether the applicant failed to comply

25 with the educational plan regarding guiding

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1 principles target population educational program

2 design curriculum plan student performance

3 assessment and evaluation exceptional students

4 and English language learners

5 So the school if you want to have a couple

6 of minutes to speak directly to the educational

7 plan and then well give the district the same

8 amount of time

9 MS ALEXANDER Sure With respect to the

10 mission statement we believe that the denial was

11 not supported by competent substantial evidence in

12 any way For example the School Board alleges

13 that we didnt provide an adequate mission

14 statement or describe how the school utilizes

15 guiding principles

16 As you can kind of get the sense from hearing

17 Dr Myers hes got a pretty sophisticated sense

18 of mission And with respect to the mission

19 statement the application specifically says on

20 Page 4 The mission statement of the charter high

21 school is to provide an exemplary personalized

22 learning program in a supportive resource rich

23 contemporary learning environment Stephen Biko

24 Charter High School is dedicated to excellence and

25 committed to nurturing passionate lifelong

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1 learners

2 It also says that The school will meet the

3 high standards of student achievement by

4 supporting positive academic outcomes for students

5 by addressing the academic social economical -shy

6 Im sorry -- emotional and behavioral needs of

7 enrolled students And it says that High

8 standards will be evident which will offer parents

9 and guardians of students currently attending the

10 elementary and charter schools of Duval County the

11 flexibility to choose the school

12 So our view is that if you actually look at

13 the application there is a specific mission its

14 very clear and in fact weve met the standard

15 Just as an aside there was a reference to a

16 private school cant be a charter school

17 Dr Myers started the private school on donations

18 alone in the interim because he wanted to try to

19 start offering education to the average students

20 as quickly as possible He consulted with the DOE

21 and was told that in fact he could open up the

22 school and that if the charter is granted he

23 could transition from the private school into the

24 charter model so there isnt any prohibition

25 against how hes doing it

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1 But our view is if you look at the

2 application there is a clear mission its

3 outlined there and it did meet the standard So

4 thank you

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

6 District

7 DR MYERS Can I

8 CHAIRMAN CHU You have about 30 seconds

9 DR MYERS Thank you I contacted the

10 Department of Education and they expressed to me

11 that I have to close the school and once I close

12 the school every child has to apply So that was

13 done prior to opening up the private school

14 As they stated theres nowhere in that

15 application where it states (inaudible) So all

16 of these things are preposterous in what theyre

17 saying and its just things that theyre trying

18 to elaborate to make the application look bad

19 As I expressed to you Board members this

20 application was approved similar last year It

21 was the exact application So everything that

22 shes coming up with and all three of them does

23 not make sense it does not It does not weigh

24 this application God knows it does not And

25 they cannot give you sufficient reasons why

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1 Thats why they come in with all of these

2 fictitious false allegations against this

3 application Thats all theyre doing They

4 approved this application last year they did

5 And thats all Im asking for

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right District

7 MR McDUFFIE Just briefly and I will turn

8 the mic over to Ms Bowen

9 This is the second time youve heard that

10 there was a mirror application from last year I

11 would like to ask the Commission to go to Page 39

12 of the application There is a specific provision

13 in the application which says if the school

14 intends to replicate an existing school design

15 you are supposed to notify the district under E

16 and F in that section

17 In their application that section is blank

18 okay So they are replicating an existing school

19 design they did not notify us of that in the

20 application

21 And secondly that also takes away the

22 innovative factor of the school If theyre

23 replicating an existing school what is innovative

24 about their charter school

25 Just briefly again with respect to that

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1 private school the application is in the name of

2 Stephen Biko Private Charter School so it is a

3 private school that is making the application

4 MS BOWEN I would just like to add that if

5 there was an application that was approved last

6 year within the past five years we would be glad

7 to go back and look if theres a name thats

8 submitted for us to do reference But when we

9 looked through all of our prior applications we

10 could find no areas where there was similar an

11 exact model of an approved application that had

12 already been approved by the district

13 But to respond to point one as far as the

14 guiding principle section the mission statement

15 was general it was vague and it did not describe

16 meaningful or measurable priority It

17 inefficiently defines the values of the school and

18 was inconsistent with the appellants subsequent

19 educational program plan The question of the

20 guidance embedded within question one clearly says

21 that it should explain what the school intends to

22 do for whom and to what degree And I failed to

23 be able to fully answer all of those questions by

24 reading the statement

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Were going to have a QampA

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1 session so what were going to do now is let me

2 ask the Commission members do you have any

3 questions

4 MS BRUBAKER I would like to hear how

5 you -shy

6 DR MYERS Me

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes Dr Myers How you plan

8 on taking those low performing students to be able

9 to do dual enrollment or AP classes

10 DR MYERS Well first of all as those

11 students arrive in the school various testing

12 will be done on those students TABE testing also

13 WRAT4 testing and various things We would look

14 at the matrix of where the kid came from

15 We have a child now that came to us Georgia

16 from one of the schools in Georgia where he was

17 functioning at a lower level The WRAT4 which is

18 designed to motivate the child and test the child

19 TABE test then we get a matrix from that and we

20 set a curriculum for -- excuse me -- we set the

21 curriculum for the child give the child

22 appropriate courses that the child has already

23 taken or retake again

24 So we move the child in small groups which

25 would be one-on-one learning or it could be group

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1 learning activities The chairs in the classroom

2 are set up and a table where one to one and one to

3 one where the child can model the other child and

4 move forward

5 The APEX curriculum which is used in Duval

6 County Public Schools they just finished using

7 the APEX curriculum in one of their failing

8 schools which moved -- increased the grade two

9 grades -- I think one or two grades at Andrew

10 Jackson High School They have the APEX They

11 have several schools in Duval County thats using

12 the APEX curriculum So its a Florida curriculum

13 that is being used

14 As they expressed the application -- when I

15 looked at the application since I was using the

16 APEX curriculum I said okay why not modify this

17 and put it back into context where its being

18 used So what were doing is we just wrote the

19 application in regards to what they wanted They

20 wanted APEX We put the APEX in there Its a

21 proven fact that its successful in their public

22 schools

23 MS ALEXANDER Can you answer her questions

24 I think which is how you are going to move the low

25 learners up to eventually taking the AP test

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1 DR MYERS Right Im sorry I know I only

2 have a few more minutes or a few seconds But

3 eventually as they progress in each area in math

4 science social studies then we test again So

5 we test at the beginning test at the end

6 And as they -- at the midterm level it tells

7 us whether or not theyre going to be remediated

8 in the course or move forward As they move

9 forward we get the curriculum more rigorous again

10 for them and the next course which is in line so

11 basically one on one and group learning is

12 efficient for them Theyre going to have to take

13 the same courses but if theyre testing at lower

14 levels thats where the individualized

15 instruction will help them

16 Did I answer it

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

18 respond to that

19 MR McDUFFIE Ms Bowen would like to

20 respond But I just want to make it also clear

21 that that -- what was just explained verbally is

22 not in the application

23 MS BOWEN The APEX curriculum is about a

24 curriculum for a set population of students as

25 well as the TABE Assessment they test and measure

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1 students basic skills The expectation under the

2 Common Core the FCAT 20 far exceeds that

3 curriculum And yes we have used it with some

4 of our most lowest performing students and Andrew

5 Jackson did make some gains but they still have

6 19 percent of their students are reading

7 proficiently

8 So my concern is with that curriculum I know

9 that there is something that you needed to have a

10 better indication that was going to provide the

11 teacher with a clear pathway of how to meet those

12 gaps By giving me an assessment thats only

13 measuring my minimum skills it does not

14 demonstrate the expectation of the Lexile level

15 thats required for a college entrance And on

16 Page 39 of his application it clearly states for

17 students who are interested in pre-med coursework

18 The expectation for reading cannot be

19 provided with the diagnosis information that you

20 get with a TABE Assessment or an APEX curriculum

21 Page 10 -- Im sorry I said Page 39 its stuck

22 in my head for some reason -- but on Page 10 it

23 talks about pre-med students and the other

24 innovative -- because thats what hes saying

25 its one of the innovative factors of this

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1 program

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you Are there other

3 questions from the Commission members

4 MS BRADLEY I have a question

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Verdya

6 MS BRADLEY My question is for the school

7 the applicant Is this a solely online program

8 DR MYERS No maam Its basically online

9 and direct instruction

10 MS BRADLEY Do you discuss direct

11 instruction in here

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY The reason that I ask that

14 question is the questions in the application asks

15 specifically for a description of the curriculum

16 a description of the reading program And in your

17 responses your responses pretty much tie back to

18 the APEX curriculum so it appears that it is

19 solely reliant on And then all of the

20 documentation that you gave was from the APEX

21 program So I was just wondering is it just

22 solely online

23 DR MYERS The majority of it but theres a

24 piece where the direct instruction is in place

25 with the child because the children are culled

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1 out for the particular course learning for the

2 subject area that theyre doing The regular

3 curriculum comes in -- the APEX Lexile learning

4 comes in Everything is designed where its

5 implemented on the laptop for the child If the

6 child needs direct instruction the child is

7 culled out into an environment where he or she

8 receives the one-on-one instruction

9 MS BRADLEY Did you discuss that in here

10 DR MYERS Im pretty sure I did

11 MS ALEXANDER What page are you looking at

12 for these

13 MS BRADLEY Well it kind of goes back and

14 forth It starts on Page 16 where it starts

15 talking about the educational program and then it

16 gives me probably about 20 30 pages on APEX and

17 then it goes into the reading curriculum But Im

18 not seeing anywhere where theres any supplement

19 to that

20 Because even the question on Page 16 was

21 Describe the proposed reading or educational

22 program it sort of goes through elements of the

23 APEX program Then on Page 68 it says Describe

24 the reading curriculum

25 DR MYERS Yes maam If you look at

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1 the -shy

2 MS HITCHCOCK Stand up please

3 DR MYERS Im sorry

4 CHAIRMAN CHU If you could come to the mic

5 that would be very helpful because our court

6 reporter is trying to get it all down

7 DR MYERS Im sorry The bullet there

8 says Direct instruction individual and small

9 group instruction led by highly-qualified

10 teachers

11 MS ESPOSITO Say the page

12 MS BRADLEY Thats on Page 16 But its

13 just part of the -- its sort of an isolated

14 bullet but it doesnt explain it any further than

15 that You know it doesnt tell me that there is

16 going to be a pull-out portion

17 DR MYERS Right But as I stated I just

18 put a little piece in there because thats just a

19 little piece of the curriculum and thats why I

20 just mentioned a little piece of it there The

21 majority of it is an online based curriculum

22 MS HODGENS I have a question for the

23 school

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

25 MS HODGENS I am confused on the targeted

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1 population Im trying to get it on the motion

2 sheet so Im going to go to targeted population

3 first And I am a little confused on it because I

4 can read what you say on Page 12 And on Page 12

5 you talk about being open to all students and

6 then you talk about low-performing students and

7 then you go back to all students

8 And then when I go to Page 41 the curriculum

9 design you talk about students needing credit

10 recovery And then I continue on and I see AP

11 courses honor courses And again I dont want

12 to allude that I dont believe that kids can do

13 those courses but I want to understand what

14 population youre really looking at

15 DR MYERS Were looking at all students

16 within that demographic And within the

17 demographics it is a lower level You have lower

18 level one level two basically they are coming

19 from the downtown sector area within that 5-mile

20 radius area of the downtown

21 So when I say all students because a

22 charter school cannot deny a student from applying

23 or coming in all students are accepted if they

24 can meet transportation needs to come to school

25 So as I expressed to you thats what

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1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

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13

1 Im going through And it is wrong And Im only

2 speaking from my heart You cant throw me in the

3 garbage can speaking from my heart thats what

4 Im doing today

5 And Im just asking you to give me the

6 opportunity to show these individuals from my

7 county that I can be successful I am being

8 successful with these kids Im doing a great

9 job And former Mayor Delaney he inspired me to

10 do this because he said Greg you are passionate

11 Most individuals that open up charter schools open

12 them up for the wrong reasons they open them up

13 for funds I opening up because I love kids and I

14 want to change lives because Im tired of seeing

15 children go into the prison system and Im tired

16 of seeing children going wayward

17 The young lady that finished our school

18 shes now attending Virginia College received a

19 full scholarship Thats what this is all about

20 And if it could change my life imagine how it

21 could change other lives

22 So thats why it makes me upset it makes me

23 angry because Ive been going through this and

24 its all about this beautiful building Old

25 Stanton High School located right behind the new

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1 courthouse Thats what its all about All this

2 is is just a dog and pony show this is what its

3 about because they feel as though Im going to

4 take the kids from (inaudible) and Andrew Jackson

5 Thank you so much for listening to me and

6 Ill be responding to your questions

7 MS ALEXANDER As you can tell hes very

8 passionate about his school And he was in fact

9 urged by former Mayor Delaney to start the charter

10 school

11 And the building that hes showing and

12 referring to is actually right behind -- as he

13 said its right behind the brand new courthouse

14 And in fact the development authority which Joe

15 Whitaker will speak to has actually pledged funds

16 to refurbish the building And thats where the

17 charter school will be housed

18 And all of those plans are in place but in

19 fact because we dont have charter school

20 approval we cant go forward and get the funds to

21 rehab the school thats right behind the

22 courthouse in downtown Its part of the

23 revitalization district of downtown Jacksonville

24 What he forgot to stay was not only was he a

25 product of the education system in Jacksonville

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1 but he taught in the Duval County Schools for

2 many many years He was a football coach he was

3 a teacher he was an assistant principle he was a

4 principal in fact he ran three Drop In Academy

5 Schools in Duval before in fact deciding to open

6 up the new charter school at the urgence of former

7 Mayor John Delaney who is in fact on his Board

8 and as you all know is now the current President

9 of the University of North Florida So thats

10 really the backdrop of this

11 And Im going to turn it over to Joe

12 Whitaker who is on the Board and will give you a

13 little sense of whats going on with the building

14 so you get a sense of the whole background here

15 Thanks

16 MR WHITAKER Good afternoon My name is

17 Joe Whitaker and Im with the Mayors Office of

18 Economic Development for the City of Jacksonville

19 And I got intrigued by Mr Myers desire to open

20 up a charter school because I ran a loan program

21 for the City and I assisted him in another project

22 that he did to put something back into his

23 neighborhood So Ive watched him and Ive seen

24 his passion and his energy for getting things

25 done

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1 And one of the things that I admire about

2 Dr Myers is that he does what he says hes going

3 to do when he says hes going to do it And

4 thats fairly rare in my opinion

5 I would like to just clear up any other

6 misunderstandings The City of Jacksonville has

7 yet not pledged funds for his project until we

8 have a charter school designation so that we dont

9 waste a lot of time trying to raise money But

10 essentially the Old Stanton High School was built

11 in 1901 and it is now just a shell and it is

12 governed by a not-for-profit Board And we have

13 achieved the first step of the goal and that is

14 they have given us site control

15 So we do have the ability if were granted a

16 charter to be able to go out then and raise the

17 funds to be able to rehabilitate this building and

18 actually put upwards of 400 young students in

19 there in high school

20 And we dont have a high school in downtown

21 Jacksonville and we believe that this opportunity

22 to redevelop the Old Stanton building is a

23 worthwhile endeavor on behalf of our redevelopment

24 efforts and were anxious to do that

25 We have put together a Board that we believe

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1 has the fundraising capacity to be able to

2 generate enough private capital to get this kicked

3 off And the City of Jacksonville has an historic

4 loan fund that we have the ability to be able to

5 get some money from to finish the product And we

6 think its going to be a success

7 Downtown Jacksonville is going through its

8 own renaissance We have people moving downtown

9 and were bringing more retail downtown and our

10 Mayor is focused on rebuilding downtown So we

11 believe that we have an opportunity to be

12 successful

13 I chose to volunteer to be on Gregs Board

14 because I believe in him And we have been

15 working to get other prominent people in the

16 community on this Board so that we can make a

17 difference Thats what this is all about

18 As an economic development professional with

19 the City of Jacksonville for the last 30 years

20 Ive been involved in a lot of projects 156

21 projects since 2001 and weve generated private

22 capital investments of $14 million and weve

23 created 15000 jobs So the group that Im

24 working with we believe that this is achievable

25 But the first step is to get site control we

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1 have that Now the next step is we get the

2 charter then we have the ability to be able to

3 raise the funds you know to put this project

4 together Ill be happy to answer any questions

5 you may have

6 MS ALEXANDER Given that the school has

7 already opened and is successfully educating

8 students we believe that there wasnt good cause

9 in fact to deny the application and we will be

10 happy to answer any questions with respect to the

11 specific categories I just didnt want to go

12 through them twice given that its late in the

13 day So I just wanted to give you a background

14 thats where we are And we respectfully request

15 that you grant our appeal and thank you very

16 much

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

18 Representatives for the district

19 MR McDUFFIE Thank you members of the

20 Commission Again my name is Brian McDuffie

21 Im Executive Director for Policy and Compliance

22 with Duval County Public Schools

23 With me to my left is Ms Jackie Bowen

24 Executive Director for Academic Services

25 Ms Angela Heiney who is Coordinator of Financial

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1 Reporting We also have Karen Chastain who is

2 Chief Legal Officer for the district as well as

3 Shanita Roper and Anita Henry-Smith who are from

4 our charter schools office

5 The first thing that I want to touch upon is

6 the charter school climate in Duval County We

7 approved 13 out of 15 applications that went to

8 the Board during this last cycle We currently

9 have 21 charter schools operating in Duval County

10 And I think if every application or every

11 applicant that had good intentions had their

12 charter school approved there would be an

13 overwhelming number of charter schools It is not

14 necessarily about worthwhile intentions

15 And there has never been any question on our

16 part about the integrity of the people trying to

17 start this charter school none whatsoever They

18 appear to be good people with good intentions It

19 is not about that It is also not about

20 redeveloping downtown Jacksonville It is about

21 the children

22 And thats what we have been given the task

23 of doing as a sponsor to look and make sure that

24 when these applications come in that the children

25 are protected

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1 What Im going to do today is basically

2 provide the Commission with a slight overview with

3 respect to Issue 2 Ms Heiney will talk with

4 respect to Issue 3 And Ms Bowen will talk with

5 respect to Issue 1 just as an overview

6 So moving to Issue 2 governance the first

7 thing -- again keep within the time

8 constraints -- as a highlight the applicant is a

9 private school That in and on its face is a

10 reason for denial If you look at Florida

11 Statutes 100233(3)(b) a private school cannot be

12 a charter school

13 Moving on to management With respect to the

14 management section we were provided with

15 essentially a lot of vague information They

16 failed to give the management structure job

17 descriptions for teachers the administrative

18 positions They failed to give criteria as to how

19 they were going to select teachers And they also

20 failed to describe how they were going to monitor

21 teacher certification as well as how to fill

22 status

23 Based on these measures with respect to

24 Issue 2 under governance and management we feel

25 that the School Board had competent substantial

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1 evidence and good cause to deny the application

2 And next to speak will be Ms Jackie Bowen

3 MS BOWEN Good afternoon Im Jacqueline

4 Bowen the Academic Services Executive Director

5 I do appreciate the applicants passion for

6 students thats why Im here But I would also

7 like to reiterate as our counsel has said that I

8 am not a historical resident of Jacksonville And

9 as we review applications I have no knowledge of

10 many of the historical factors or the political

11 things that are behind it having only been in the

12 city for 12 years My goal and every analysis or

13 review of the complete instructional plan is that

14 it benefit children

15 So in reviewing the actual application there

16 were great deficiencies in the areas of the

17 guiding principles the targeted population was

18 very unclear the education program design the

19 curriculum plan the student performance

20 assessments evaluation the actual educational

21 supporting plan for the ESE population as well as

22 ELL students

23 So for example within this application

24 its supposed to provide any reader or reviewer a

25 very clear picture of what a student will need to

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1 do and what they will experience as they are

2 attending that institution meaning that I should

3 have an understanding of the applicant And the

4 applicant was real clear that he wanted to

5 provide the whole child and provide that

6 experience

7 But it didnt give me a clear understanding

8 or the reviewers upon my team about the

9 structure how the things that were identified

10 were truly going to support and guide teachers

11 decisions to make sure theyre meeting the

12 standards of the NGSS and the Common Core and

13 ultimately graduating

14 The application was indistinguishable between

15 the targeted population because at one point it

16 talked about at-risk students from a particular

17 5-mile geographic dynamics and then it said all

18 students no matter what according to the

19 standard of expectation

20 The applicant briefly described a pre-med

21 program a dual enrollment advanced placement

22 classes And the appeal reiterated the error by

23 describing instructional programs and learning

24 strategies but they failed to provide a clear

25 picture as to how you were going to take

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1 struggling students or any student to that

2 advanced and rigorous curriculum

3 And as we can say that the standard requires

4 the application to explain not only what the

5 school is going to teach but how they were going

6 to teach it I was continually searching which

7 Im not required to do throughout the entire

8 application to see how was this instruction going

9 to be -- what is that child going to experience on

10 a daily basis And it was very unclear

11 Statute 100233 also states that the charter

12 application must have a detailed curriculum plan

13 a curriculum plan not a curriculum resource a

14 plan for instruction that illustrates how those

15 students are going to be provided services to meet

16 those graduation requirements We are in the

17 business of graduating students

18 So the application also didnt provide a very

19 clear reading curriculum They referenced the

20 Just Read Florida Website which Im very happy

21 that they were there supporting but it is a

22 resource document it does not outline a

23 curriculum plan And unfortunately -- and Im

24 saying this in this building -- it really only

25 sports primary education When you get towards

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1 secondary the resources become very limited And

2 I know theyre working on that

3 So the statute requires that we deny the

4 application on the fact that the reading

5 curriculum plan was not sufficient at all

6 Another key issue that was concerning which

7 led to a good cause denial of the application was

8 that a risk of students not being prepared for the

9 FCAT Because they identified assessments which

10 Im very familiar with failed to have the

11 measuring tools that would guide teacher

12 instruction in being able to support deficiencies

13 or make accommodations or get those students ready

14 for that you know accelerated dual enrollment

15 advanced AP or pre-med curriculum

16 Im going to wrap it up because I know

17 everybody is ready to go When we talk about our

18 ELL students and we are doing a lot within our

19 districts to better support all students there

20 was really -- I struggled with finding out how the

21 students were going to enter our school And an

22 ELL student is just one designation because you

23 can have an ELL student that also has an ESE

24 designation and has some little deficiencies in

25 particular other areas

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1 There was no -- they failed to demonstrate

2 how they were going to make choices of selecting

3 the appropriate materials to meet the needs of all

4 students

5 To say we will select resources but there

6 was no clear indication of how those decisions

7 would be made The assessments didnt provide

8 that detailed information to guide that choice so

9 upon that there was no reason but to have a good

10 cause for denial

11 MS HEINEY Good afternoon My name is

12 Angela Heiney H-e-i-n-e-y and I reviewed the

13 business plan for the applicant As an overview

14 the entire business plan did not meet the standard

15 with the exception of the transportation which

16 only partially met the standard

17 There were quite a few reasons that we found

18 for this The biggest -- there were statutory

19 failures all over the place 100233(6)(a)5

20 states that there has to be an annual financial

21 plan based on projected revenues and expenditures

22 What we found is that the revenues and

23 expenditures provided were unsubstantiated

24 unsupported and there was missing money all over

25 the place For example on Page 107 the

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1 applicant states theyre going to take out

2 $500000 in loans to fund their startup however

3 if you look at their five-year business plan

4 there is no repayment for those loans And they

5 provided absolutely no correspondence from any

6 lending institution that says theyre willing to

7 give half a million dollars and not expect a penny

8 back for over five years In this current

9 economic climate that rarely if ever happens

10 Ive never seen it

11 The application and the denial or the

12 response to the denial that was filed -- the

13 notice of appeal -- there were several points that

14 were made in our denial however they never even

15 discussed those

16 For example the application specifically

17 states that they plan on contracting out HR and

18 accounting services however they dont know how

19 much it is so they didnt even include that in

20 their budget For some of our schools that is

21 thousands and thousands of dollars a year just

22 missing

23 Theres inconsistencies Mr Whitaker just

24 stated that the City of Jacksonville has not

25 promised the money However Page 104 states that

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1 they have a verbal commitment There is no

2 evidence of any commitment no letters from former

3 Mayor Delaney no letters from current Mayor

4 Browns office anybody even suggesting that they

5 know who this school is and that theyre willing

6 to support it

7 A second statutory failing occurs again in

8 (6)(a)5 where it states that the application must

9 have a description of controls that safeguard

10 financing

11 During the general help session the

12 applicants were told they must give detailed

13 procedures on certain areas Why Because these

14 are the areas that consistently have fraud

15 errors thefts mistakes We dont like to

16 believe that will happen at schools but frankly

17 bad things do happen

18 They were told you must have accounts

19 payables accounts receivables cash management

20 payroll those areas Why This is where weve

21 seen problems happen There was nothing There

22 was some general policy given on Pages 113 and 14

23 And they state on Page 113 there will be

24 implementation of many internal financial

25 controls however that is not a description of

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1 controls which is what is mandated by the

2 statute

3 Another failing occurs on Statute 21839

4 This statute mandates the use of an independent

5 certified public account for performing annual

6 financial reporting so the audited financial

7 statements which are required

8 In Attachment 7 it states that the same

9 person providing accounting services will also

10 perform the auditing services According to the

11 American Institute of CPAs this is actually a

12 violation of independence and an ethics violation

13 itself So anybody who is willing to do both is

14 not by statute an independent auditor And they

15 have stated in their application thats what

16 theyre going to do

17 When you see one statutory violation that is

18 certainly competent and substantial evidence for

19 denial When you see at least three just in one

20 section now were getting overwhelming grounds

21 for denial

22 But we also saw areas in the facilities where

23 they simply state that they will meet statute

24 Saying youre going to meet statute is not the

25 same as explaining what youre going to do

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1 Theyre stating in their financials that theyre

2 going to have $3 million worth of renovations

3 What on earth are you going to do for $3 million

4 Mr Whitaker stated that the building is just

5 a shell However the application states that it

6 is currently being in use by a daycare for the

7 Urban League So whats going on Theres no

8 consistency between whats being said whats

9 being done in the application

10 In that stance we do not make assumptions

11 We must go with what is written So any verbal

12 statements we cant justify that because all we

13 can hold the applicant to is what has been written

14 in that document

15 We have a problem with food service They

16 state that theyre not going to use NSLP and

17 theyre going to contract a vendor which is

18 perfectly acceptable except their target

19 population is going to be children that are at

20 risk Specifically this is a very high population

21 of children who will qualify for free and reduced

22 lunch What about the kids that cant pay for

23 their food what are they going to do all day in

24 class We cant starve children thats wrong

25 Theres no money in the budget for -shy

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

2 MS HEINEY Im sorry

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

4 MS HEINEY Theres no money in the budget

5 for food so theres no money theres no plan

6 And this is an area that has direct effect on

7 health and well-being of the children

8 The action plan that they gave is completely

9 unrealistic and does not meet up against their

10 academic standards For example they state that

11 theyre going to use Achieve 3000 Achieve 3000

12 is a difficult product to use It does require

13 training

14 And the startup budget and the statement of

15 cash flow is there is no money whatsoever for

16 teacher training So are these teachers supposed

17 to walk in on their first day knowing how to use

18 it The action plan says theres going to be

19 training but theres no money for it so how are

20 you going do it As I said theres quite a bit

21 of reasons And if you have any questions we

22 would be more than happy to respond

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay This takes us to

24 Issue 1 whether the applicant failed to comply

25 with the educational plan regarding guiding

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1 principles target population educational program

2 design curriculum plan student performance

3 assessment and evaluation exceptional students

4 and English language learners

5 So the school if you want to have a couple

6 of minutes to speak directly to the educational

7 plan and then well give the district the same

8 amount of time

9 MS ALEXANDER Sure With respect to the

10 mission statement we believe that the denial was

11 not supported by competent substantial evidence in

12 any way For example the School Board alleges

13 that we didnt provide an adequate mission

14 statement or describe how the school utilizes

15 guiding principles

16 As you can kind of get the sense from hearing

17 Dr Myers hes got a pretty sophisticated sense

18 of mission And with respect to the mission

19 statement the application specifically says on

20 Page 4 The mission statement of the charter high

21 school is to provide an exemplary personalized

22 learning program in a supportive resource rich

23 contemporary learning environment Stephen Biko

24 Charter High School is dedicated to excellence and

25 committed to nurturing passionate lifelong

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1 learners

2 It also says that The school will meet the

3 high standards of student achievement by

4 supporting positive academic outcomes for students

5 by addressing the academic social economical -shy

6 Im sorry -- emotional and behavioral needs of

7 enrolled students And it says that High

8 standards will be evident which will offer parents

9 and guardians of students currently attending the

10 elementary and charter schools of Duval County the

11 flexibility to choose the school

12 So our view is that if you actually look at

13 the application there is a specific mission its

14 very clear and in fact weve met the standard

15 Just as an aside there was a reference to a

16 private school cant be a charter school

17 Dr Myers started the private school on donations

18 alone in the interim because he wanted to try to

19 start offering education to the average students

20 as quickly as possible He consulted with the DOE

21 and was told that in fact he could open up the

22 school and that if the charter is granted he

23 could transition from the private school into the

24 charter model so there isnt any prohibition

25 against how hes doing it

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1 But our view is if you look at the

2 application there is a clear mission its

3 outlined there and it did meet the standard So

4 thank you

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

6 District

7 DR MYERS Can I

8 CHAIRMAN CHU You have about 30 seconds

9 DR MYERS Thank you I contacted the

10 Department of Education and they expressed to me

11 that I have to close the school and once I close

12 the school every child has to apply So that was

13 done prior to opening up the private school

14 As they stated theres nowhere in that

15 application where it states (inaudible) So all

16 of these things are preposterous in what theyre

17 saying and its just things that theyre trying

18 to elaborate to make the application look bad

19 As I expressed to you Board members this

20 application was approved similar last year It

21 was the exact application So everything that

22 shes coming up with and all three of them does

23 not make sense it does not It does not weigh

24 this application God knows it does not And

25 they cannot give you sufficient reasons why

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1 Thats why they come in with all of these

2 fictitious false allegations against this

3 application Thats all theyre doing They

4 approved this application last year they did

5 And thats all Im asking for

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right District

7 MR McDUFFIE Just briefly and I will turn

8 the mic over to Ms Bowen

9 This is the second time youve heard that

10 there was a mirror application from last year I

11 would like to ask the Commission to go to Page 39

12 of the application There is a specific provision

13 in the application which says if the school

14 intends to replicate an existing school design

15 you are supposed to notify the district under E

16 and F in that section

17 In their application that section is blank

18 okay So they are replicating an existing school

19 design they did not notify us of that in the

20 application

21 And secondly that also takes away the

22 innovative factor of the school If theyre

23 replicating an existing school what is innovative

24 about their charter school

25 Just briefly again with respect to that

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1 private school the application is in the name of

2 Stephen Biko Private Charter School so it is a

3 private school that is making the application

4 MS BOWEN I would just like to add that if

5 there was an application that was approved last

6 year within the past five years we would be glad

7 to go back and look if theres a name thats

8 submitted for us to do reference But when we

9 looked through all of our prior applications we

10 could find no areas where there was similar an

11 exact model of an approved application that had

12 already been approved by the district

13 But to respond to point one as far as the

14 guiding principle section the mission statement

15 was general it was vague and it did not describe

16 meaningful or measurable priority It

17 inefficiently defines the values of the school and

18 was inconsistent with the appellants subsequent

19 educational program plan The question of the

20 guidance embedded within question one clearly says

21 that it should explain what the school intends to

22 do for whom and to what degree And I failed to

23 be able to fully answer all of those questions by

24 reading the statement

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Were going to have a QampA

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1 session so what were going to do now is let me

2 ask the Commission members do you have any

3 questions

4 MS BRUBAKER I would like to hear how

5 you -shy

6 DR MYERS Me

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes Dr Myers How you plan

8 on taking those low performing students to be able

9 to do dual enrollment or AP classes

10 DR MYERS Well first of all as those

11 students arrive in the school various testing

12 will be done on those students TABE testing also

13 WRAT4 testing and various things We would look

14 at the matrix of where the kid came from

15 We have a child now that came to us Georgia

16 from one of the schools in Georgia where he was

17 functioning at a lower level The WRAT4 which is

18 designed to motivate the child and test the child

19 TABE test then we get a matrix from that and we

20 set a curriculum for -- excuse me -- we set the

21 curriculum for the child give the child

22 appropriate courses that the child has already

23 taken or retake again

24 So we move the child in small groups which

25 would be one-on-one learning or it could be group

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1 learning activities The chairs in the classroom

2 are set up and a table where one to one and one to

3 one where the child can model the other child and

4 move forward

5 The APEX curriculum which is used in Duval

6 County Public Schools they just finished using

7 the APEX curriculum in one of their failing

8 schools which moved -- increased the grade two

9 grades -- I think one or two grades at Andrew

10 Jackson High School They have the APEX They

11 have several schools in Duval County thats using

12 the APEX curriculum So its a Florida curriculum

13 that is being used

14 As they expressed the application -- when I

15 looked at the application since I was using the

16 APEX curriculum I said okay why not modify this

17 and put it back into context where its being

18 used So what were doing is we just wrote the

19 application in regards to what they wanted They

20 wanted APEX We put the APEX in there Its a

21 proven fact that its successful in their public

22 schools

23 MS ALEXANDER Can you answer her questions

24 I think which is how you are going to move the low

25 learners up to eventually taking the AP test

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1 DR MYERS Right Im sorry I know I only

2 have a few more minutes or a few seconds But

3 eventually as they progress in each area in math

4 science social studies then we test again So

5 we test at the beginning test at the end

6 And as they -- at the midterm level it tells

7 us whether or not theyre going to be remediated

8 in the course or move forward As they move

9 forward we get the curriculum more rigorous again

10 for them and the next course which is in line so

11 basically one on one and group learning is

12 efficient for them Theyre going to have to take

13 the same courses but if theyre testing at lower

14 levels thats where the individualized

15 instruction will help them

16 Did I answer it

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

18 respond to that

19 MR McDUFFIE Ms Bowen would like to

20 respond But I just want to make it also clear

21 that that -- what was just explained verbally is

22 not in the application

23 MS BOWEN The APEX curriculum is about a

24 curriculum for a set population of students as

25 well as the TABE Assessment they test and measure

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1 students basic skills The expectation under the

2 Common Core the FCAT 20 far exceeds that

3 curriculum And yes we have used it with some

4 of our most lowest performing students and Andrew

5 Jackson did make some gains but they still have

6 19 percent of their students are reading

7 proficiently

8 So my concern is with that curriculum I know

9 that there is something that you needed to have a

10 better indication that was going to provide the

11 teacher with a clear pathway of how to meet those

12 gaps By giving me an assessment thats only

13 measuring my minimum skills it does not

14 demonstrate the expectation of the Lexile level

15 thats required for a college entrance And on

16 Page 39 of his application it clearly states for

17 students who are interested in pre-med coursework

18 The expectation for reading cannot be

19 provided with the diagnosis information that you

20 get with a TABE Assessment or an APEX curriculum

21 Page 10 -- Im sorry I said Page 39 its stuck

22 in my head for some reason -- but on Page 10 it

23 talks about pre-med students and the other

24 innovative -- because thats what hes saying

25 its one of the innovative factors of this

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1 program

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you Are there other

3 questions from the Commission members

4 MS BRADLEY I have a question

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Verdya

6 MS BRADLEY My question is for the school

7 the applicant Is this a solely online program

8 DR MYERS No maam Its basically online

9 and direct instruction

10 MS BRADLEY Do you discuss direct

11 instruction in here

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY The reason that I ask that

14 question is the questions in the application asks

15 specifically for a description of the curriculum

16 a description of the reading program And in your

17 responses your responses pretty much tie back to

18 the APEX curriculum so it appears that it is

19 solely reliant on And then all of the

20 documentation that you gave was from the APEX

21 program So I was just wondering is it just

22 solely online

23 DR MYERS The majority of it but theres a

24 piece where the direct instruction is in place

25 with the child because the children are culled

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1 out for the particular course learning for the

2 subject area that theyre doing The regular

3 curriculum comes in -- the APEX Lexile learning

4 comes in Everything is designed where its

5 implemented on the laptop for the child If the

6 child needs direct instruction the child is

7 culled out into an environment where he or she

8 receives the one-on-one instruction

9 MS BRADLEY Did you discuss that in here

10 DR MYERS Im pretty sure I did

11 MS ALEXANDER What page are you looking at

12 for these

13 MS BRADLEY Well it kind of goes back and

14 forth It starts on Page 16 where it starts

15 talking about the educational program and then it

16 gives me probably about 20 30 pages on APEX and

17 then it goes into the reading curriculum But Im

18 not seeing anywhere where theres any supplement

19 to that

20 Because even the question on Page 16 was

21 Describe the proposed reading or educational

22 program it sort of goes through elements of the

23 APEX program Then on Page 68 it says Describe

24 the reading curriculum

25 DR MYERS Yes maam If you look at

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1 the -shy

2 MS HITCHCOCK Stand up please

3 DR MYERS Im sorry

4 CHAIRMAN CHU If you could come to the mic

5 that would be very helpful because our court

6 reporter is trying to get it all down

7 DR MYERS Im sorry The bullet there

8 says Direct instruction individual and small

9 group instruction led by highly-qualified

10 teachers

11 MS ESPOSITO Say the page

12 MS BRADLEY Thats on Page 16 But its

13 just part of the -- its sort of an isolated

14 bullet but it doesnt explain it any further than

15 that You know it doesnt tell me that there is

16 going to be a pull-out portion

17 DR MYERS Right But as I stated I just

18 put a little piece in there because thats just a

19 little piece of the curriculum and thats why I

20 just mentioned a little piece of it there The

21 majority of it is an online based curriculum

22 MS HODGENS I have a question for the

23 school

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

25 MS HODGENS I am confused on the targeted

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1 population Im trying to get it on the motion

2 sheet so Im going to go to targeted population

3 first And I am a little confused on it because I

4 can read what you say on Page 12 And on Page 12

5 you talk about being open to all students and

6 then you talk about low-performing students and

7 then you go back to all students

8 And then when I go to Page 41 the curriculum

9 design you talk about students needing credit

10 recovery And then I continue on and I see AP

11 courses honor courses And again I dont want

12 to allude that I dont believe that kids can do

13 those courses but I want to understand what

14 population youre really looking at

15 DR MYERS Were looking at all students

16 within that demographic And within the

17 demographics it is a lower level You have lower

18 level one level two basically they are coming

19 from the downtown sector area within that 5-mile

20 radius area of the downtown

21 So when I say all students because a

22 charter school cannot deny a student from applying

23 or coming in all students are accepted if they

24 can meet transportation needs to come to school

25 So as I expressed to you thats what

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1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

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14

1 courthouse Thats what its all about All this

2 is is just a dog and pony show this is what its

3 about because they feel as though Im going to

4 take the kids from (inaudible) and Andrew Jackson

5 Thank you so much for listening to me and

6 Ill be responding to your questions

7 MS ALEXANDER As you can tell hes very

8 passionate about his school And he was in fact

9 urged by former Mayor Delaney to start the charter

10 school

11 And the building that hes showing and

12 referring to is actually right behind -- as he

13 said its right behind the brand new courthouse

14 And in fact the development authority which Joe

15 Whitaker will speak to has actually pledged funds

16 to refurbish the building And thats where the

17 charter school will be housed

18 And all of those plans are in place but in

19 fact because we dont have charter school

20 approval we cant go forward and get the funds to

21 rehab the school thats right behind the

22 courthouse in downtown Its part of the

23 revitalization district of downtown Jacksonville

24 What he forgot to stay was not only was he a

25 product of the education system in Jacksonville

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1 but he taught in the Duval County Schools for

2 many many years He was a football coach he was

3 a teacher he was an assistant principle he was a

4 principal in fact he ran three Drop In Academy

5 Schools in Duval before in fact deciding to open

6 up the new charter school at the urgence of former

7 Mayor John Delaney who is in fact on his Board

8 and as you all know is now the current President

9 of the University of North Florida So thats

10 really the backdrop of this

11 And Im going to turn it over to Joe

12 Whitaker who is on the Board and will give you a

13 little sense of whats going on with the building

14 so you get a sense of the whole background here

15 Thanks

16 MR WHITAKER Good afternoon My name is

17 Joe Whitaker and Im with the Mayors Office of

18 Economic Development for the City of Jacksonville

19 And I got intrigued by Mr Myers desire to open

20 up a charter school because I ran a loan program

21 for the City and I assisted him in another project

22 that he did to put something back into his

23 neighborhood So Ive watched him and Ive seen

24 his passion and his energy for getting things

25 done

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1 And one of the things that I admire about

2 Dr Myers is that he does what he says hes going

3 to do when he says hes going to do it And

4 thats fairly rare in my opinion

5 I would like to just clear up any other

6 misunderstandings The City of Jacksonville has

7 yet not pledged funds for his project until we

8 have a charter school designation so that we dont

9 waste a lot of time trying to raise money But

10 essentially the Old Stanton High School was built

11 in 1901 and it is now just a shell and it is

12 governed by a not-for-profit Board And we have

13 achieved the first step of the goal and that is

14 they have given us site control

15 So we do have the ability if were granted a

16 charter to be able to go out then and raise the

17 funds to be able to rehabilitate this building and

18 actually put upwards of 400 young students in

19 there in high school

20 And we dont have a high school in downtown

21 Jacksonville and we believe that this opportunity

22 to redevelop the Old Stanton building is a

23 worthwhile endeavor on behalf of our redevelopment

24 efforts and were anxious to do that

25 We have put together a Board that we believe

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1 has the fundraising capacity to be able to

2 generate enough private capital to get this kicked

3 off And the City of Jacksonville has an historic

4 loan fund that we have the ability to be able to

5 get some money from to finish the product And we

6 think its going to be a success

7 Downtown Jacksonville is going through its

8 own renaissance We have people moving downtown

9 and were bringing more retail downtown and our

10 Mayor is focused on rebuilding downtown So we

11 believe that we have an opportunity to be

12 successful

13 I chose to volunteer to be on Gregs Board

14 because I believe in him And we have been

15 working to get other prominent people in the

16 community on this Board so that we can make a

17 difference Thats what this is all about

18 As an economic development professional with

19 the City of Jacksonville for the last 30 years

20 Ive been involved in a lot of projects 156

21 projects since 2001 and weve generated private

22 capital investments of $14 million and weve

23 created 15000 jobs So the group that Im

24 working with we believe that this is achievable

25 But the first step is to get site control we

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1 have that Now the next step is we get the

2 charter then we have the ability to be able to

3 raise the funds you know to put this project

4 together Ill be happy to answer any questions

5 you may have

6 MS ALEXANDER Given that the school has

7 already opened and is successfully educating

8 students we believe that there wasnt good cause

9 in fact to deny the application and we will be

10 happy to answer any questions with respect to the

11 specific categories I just didnt want to go

12 through them twice given that its late in the

13 day So I just wanted to give you a background

14 thats where we are And we respectfully request

15 that you grant our appeal and thank you very

16 much

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

18 Representatives for the district

19 MR McDUFFIE Thank you members of the

20 Commission Again my name is Brian McDuffie

21 Im Executive Director for Policy and Compliance

22 with Duval County Public Schools

23 With me to my left is Ms Jackie Bowen

24 Executive Director for Academic Services

25 Ms Angela Heiney who is Coordinator of Financial

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1 Reporting We also have Karen Chastain who is

2 Chief Legal Officer for the district as well as

3 Shanita Roper and Anita Henry-Smith who are from

4 our charter schools office

5 The first thing that I want to touch upon is

6 the charter school climate in Duval County We

7 approved 13 out of 15 applications that went to

8 the Board during this last cycle We currently

9 have 21 charter schools operating in Duval County

10 And I think if every application or every

11 applicant that had good intentions had their

12 charter school approved there would be an

13 overwhelming number of charter schools It is not

14 necessarily about worthwhile intentions

15 And there has never been any question on our

16 part about the integrity of the people trying to

17 start this charter school none whatsoever They

18 appear to be good people with good intentions It

19 is not about that It is also not about

20 redeveloping downtown Jacksonville It is about

21 the children

22 And thats what we have been given the task

23 of doing as a sponsor to look and make sure that

24 when these applications come in that the children

25 are protected

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1 What Im going to do today is basically

2 provide the Commission with a slight overview with

3 respect to Issue 2 Ms Heiney will talk with

4 respect to Issue 3 And Ms Bowen will talk with

5 respect to Issue 1 just as an overview

6 So moving to Issue 2 governance the first

7 thing -- again keep within the time

8 constraints -- as a highlight the applicant is a

9 private school That in and on its face is a

10 reason for denial If you look at Florida

11 Statutes 100233(3)(b) a private school cannot be

12 a charter school

13 Moving on to management With respect to the

14 management section we were provided with

15 essentially a lot of vague information They

16 failed to give the management structure job

17 descriptions for teachers the administrative

18 positions They failed to give criteria as to how

19 they were going to select teachers And they also

20 failed to describe how they were going to monitor

21 teacher certification as well as how to fill

22 status

23 Based on these measures with respect to

24 Issue 2 under governance and management we feel

25 that the School Board had competent substantial

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1 evidence and good cause to deny the application

2 And next to speak will be Ms Jackie Bowen

3 MS BOWEN Good afternoon Im Jacqueline

4 Bowen the Academic Services Executive Director

5 I do appreciate the applicants passion for

6 students thats why Im here But I would also

7 like to reiterate as our counsel has said that I

8 am not a historical resident of Jacksonville And

9 as we review applications I have no knowledge of

10 many of the historical factors or the political

11 things that are behind it having only been in the

12 city for 12 years My goal and every analysis or

13 review of the complete instructional plan is that

14 it benefit children

15 So in reviewing the actual application there

16 were great deficiencies in the areas of the

17 guiding principles the targeted population was

18 very unclear the education program design the

19 curriculum plan the student performance

20 assessments evaluation the actual educational

21 supporting plan for the ESE population as well as

22 ELL students

23 So for example within this application

24 its supposed to provide any reader or reviewer a

25 very clear picture of what a student will need to

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1 do and what they will experience as they are

2 attending that institution meaning that I should

3 have an understanding of the applicant And the

4 applicant was real clear that he wanted to

5 provide the whole child and provide that

6 experience

7 But it didnt give me a clear understanding

8 or the reviewers upon my team about the

9 structure how the things that were identified

10 were truly going to support and guide teachers

11 decisions to make sure theyre meeting the

12 standards of the NGSS and the Common Core and

13 ultimately graduating

14 The application was indistinguishable between

15 the targeted population because at one point it

16 talked about at-risk students from a particular

17 5-mile geographic dynamics and then it said all

18 students no matter what according to the

19 standard of expectation

20 The applicant briefly described a pre-med

21 program a dual enrollment advanced placement

22 classes And the appeal reiterated the error by

23 describing instructional programs and learning

24 strategies but they failed to provide a clear

25 picture as to how you were going to take

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1 struggling students or any student to that

2 advanced and rigorous curriculum

3 And as we can say that the standard requires

4 the application to explain not only what the

5 school is going to teach but how they were going

6 to teach it I was continually searching which

7 Im not required to do throughout the entire

8 application to see how was this instruction going

9 to be -- what is that child going to experience on

10 a daily basis And it was very unclear

11 Statute 100233 also states that the charter

12 application must have a detailed curriculum plan

13 a curriculum plan not a curriculum resource a

14 plan for instruction that illustrates how those

15 students are going to be provided services to meet

16 those graduation requirements We are in the

17 business of graduating students

18 So the application also didnt provide a very

19 clear reading curriculum They referenced the

20 Just Read Florida Website which Im very happy

21 that they were there supporting but it is a

22 resource document it does not outline a

23 curriculum plan And unfortunately -- and Im

24 saying this in this building -- it really only

25 sports primary education When you get towards

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1 secondary the resources become very limited And

2 I know theyre working on that

3 So the statute requires that we deny the

4 application on the fact that the reading

5 curriculum plan was not sufficient at all

6 Another key issue that was concerning which

7 led to a good cause denial of the application was

8 that a risk of students not being prepared for the

9 FCAT Because they identified assessments which

10 Im very familiar with failed to have the

11 measuring tools that would guide teacher

12 instruction in being able to support deficiencies

13 or make accommodations or get those students ready

14 for that you know accelerated dual enrollment

15 advanced AP or pre-med curriculum

16 Im going to wrap it up because I know

17 everybody is ready to go When we talk about our

18 ELL students and we are doing a lot within our

19 districts to better support all students there

20 was really -- I struggled with finding out how the

21 students were going to enter our school And an

22 ELL student is just one designation because you

23 can have an ELL student that also has an ESE

24 designation and has some little deficiencies in

25 particular other areas

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1 There was no -- they failed to demonstrate

2 how they were going to make choices of selecting

3 the appropriate materials to meet the needs of all

4 students

5 To say we will select resources but there

6 was no clear indication of how those decisions

7 would be made The assessments didnt provide

8 that detailed information to guide that choice so

9 upon that there was no reason but to have a good

10 cause for denial

11 MS HEINEY Good afternoon My name is

12 Angela Heiney H-e-i-n-e-y and I reviewed the

13 business plan for the applicant As an overview

14 the entire business plan did not meet the standard

15 with the exception of the transportation which

16 only partially met the standard

17 There were quite a few reasons that we found

18 for this The biggest -- there were statutory

19 failures all over the place 100233(6)(a)5

20 states that there has to be an annual financial

21 plan based on projected revenues and expenditures

22 What we found is that the revenues and

23 expenditures provided were unsubstantiated

24 unsupported and there was missing money all over

25 the place For example on Page 107 the

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1 applicant states theyre going to take out

2 $500000 in loans to fund their startup however

3 if you look at their five-year business plan

4 there is no repayment for those loans And they

5 provided absolutely no correspondence from any

6 lending institution that says theyre willing to

7 give half a million dollars and not expect a penny

8 back for over five years In this current

9 economic climate that rarely if ever happens

10 Ive never seen it

11 The application and the denial or the

12 response to the denial that was filed -- the

13 notice of appeal -- there were several points that

14 were made in our denial however they never even

15 discussed those

16 For example the application specifically

17 states that they plan on contracting out HR and

18 accounting services however they dont know how

19 much it is so they didnt even include that in

20 their budget For some of our schools that is

21 thousands and thousands of dollars a year just

22 missing

23 Theres inconsistencies Mr Whitaker just

24 stated that the City of Jacksonville has not

25 promised the money However Page 104 states that

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1 they have a verbal commitment There is no

2 evidence of any commitment no letters from former

3 Mayor Delaney no letters from current Mayor

4 Browns office anybody even suggesting that they

5 know who this school is and that theyre willing

6 to support it

7 A second statutory failing occurs again in

8 (6)(a)5 where it states that the application must

9 have a description of controls that safeguard

10 financing

11 During the general help session the

12 applicants were told they must give detailed

13 procedures on certain areas Why Because these

14 are the areas that consistently have fraud

15 errors thefts mistakes We dont like to

16 believe that will happen at schools but frankly

17 bad things do happen

18 They were told you must have accounts

19 payables accounts receivables cash management

20 payroll those areas Why This is where weve

21 seen problems happen There was nothing There

22 was some general policy given on Pages 113 and 14

23 And they state on Page 113 there will be

24 implementation of many internal financial

25 controls however that is not a description of

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1 controls which is what is mandated by the

2 statute

3 Another failing occurs on Statute 21839

4 This statute mandates the use of an independent

5 certified public account for performing annual

6 financial reporting so the audited financial

7 statements which are required

8 In Attachment 7 it states that the same

9 person providing accounting services will also

10 perform the auditing services According to the

11 American Institute of CPAs this is actually a

12 violation of independence and an ethics violation

13 itself So anybody who is willing to do both is

14 not by statute an independent auditor And they

15 have stated in their application thats what

16 theyre going to do

17 When you see one statutory violation that is

18 certainly competent and substantial evidence for

19 denial When you see at least three just in one

20 section now were getting overwhelming grounds

21 for denial

22 But we also saw areas in the facilities where

23 they simply state that they will meet statute

24 Saying youre going to meet statute is not the

25 same as explaining what youre going to do

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1 Theyre stating in their financials that theyre

2 going to have $3 million worth of renovations

3 What on earth are you going to do for $3 million

4 Mr Whitaker stated that the building is just

5 a shell However the application states that it

6 is currently being in use by a daycare for the

7 Urban League So whats going on Theres no

8 consistency between whats being said whats

9 being done in the application

10 In that stance we do not make assumptions

11 We must go with what is written So any verbal

12 statements we cant justify that because all we

13 can hold the applicant to is what has been written

14 in that document

15 We have a problem with food service They

16 state that theyre not going to use NSLP and

17 theyre going to contract a vendor which is

18 perfectly acceptable except their target

19 population is going to be children that are at

20 risk Specifically this is a very high population

21 of children who will qualify for free and reduced

22 lunch What about the kids that cant pay for

23 their food what are they going to do all day in

24 class We cant starve children thats wrong

25 Theres no money in the budget for -shy

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

2 MS HEINEY Im sorry

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

4 MS HEINEY Theres no money in the budget

5 for food so theres no money theres no plan

6 And this is an area that has direct effect on

7 health and well-being of the children

8 The action plan that they gave is completely

9 unrealistic and does not meet up against their

10 academic standards For example they state that

11 theyre going to use Achieve 3000 Achieve 3000

12 is a difficult product to use It does require

13 training

14 And the startup budget and the statement of

15 cash flow is there is no money whatsoever for

16 teacher training So are these teachers supposed

17 to walk in on their first day knowing how to use

18 it The action plan says theres going to be

19 training but theres no money for it so how are

20 you going do it As I said theres quite a bit

21 of reasons And if you have any questions we

22 would be more than happy to respond

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay This takes us to

24 Issue 1 whether the applicant failed to comply

25 with the educational plan regarding guiding

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1 principles target population educational program

2 design curriculum plan student performance

3 assessment and evaluation exceptional students

4 and English language learners

5 So the school if you want to have a couple

6 of minutes to speak directly to the educational

7 plan and then well give the district the same

8 amount of time

9 MS ALEXANDER Sure With respect to the

10 mission statement we believe that the denial was

11 not supported by competent substantial evidence in

12 any way For example the School Board alleges

13 that we didnt provide an adequate mission

14 statement or describe how the school utilizes

15 guiding principles

16 As you can kind of get the sense from hearing

17 Dr Myers hes got a pretty sophisticated sense

18 of mission And with respect to the mission

19 statement the application specifically says on

20 Page 4 The mission statement of the charter high

21 school is to provide an exemplary personalized

22 learning program in a supportive resource rich

23 contemporary learning environment Stephen Biko

24 Charter High School is dedicated to excellence and

25 committed to nurturing passionate lifelong

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1 learners

2 It also says that The school will meet the

3 high standards of student achievement by

4 supporting positive academic outcomes for students

5 by addressing the academic social economical -shy

6 Im sorry -- emotional and behavioral needs of

7 enrolled students And it says that High

8 standards will be evident which will offer parents

9 and guardians of students currently attending the

10 elementary and charter schools of Duval County the

11 flexibility to choose the school

12 So our view is that if you actually look at

13 the application there is a specific mission its

14 very clear and in fact weve met the standard

15 Just as an aside there was a reference to a

16 private school cant be a charter school

17 Dr Myers started the private school on donations

18 alone in the interim because he wanted to try to

19 start offering education to the average students

20 as quickly as possible He consulted with the DOE

21 and was told that in fact he could open up the

22 school and that if the charter is granted he

23 could transition from the private school into the

24 charter model so there isnt any prohibition

25 against how hes doing it

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1 But our view is if you look at the

2 application there is a clear mission its

3 outlined there and it did meet the standard So

4 thank you

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

6 District

7 DR MYERS Can I

8 CHAIRMAN CHU You have about 30 seconds

9 DR MYERS Thank you I contacted the

10 Department of Education and they expressed to me

11 that I have to close the school and once I close

12 the school every child has to apply So that was

13 done prior to opening up the private school

14 As they stated theres nowhere in that

15 application where it states (inaudible) So all

16 of these things are preposterous in what theyre

17 saying and its just things that theyre trying

18 to elaborate to make the application look bad

19 As I expressed to you Board members this

20 application was approved similar last year It

21 was the exact application So everything that

22 shes coming up with and all three of them does

23 not make sense it does not It does not weigh

24 this application God knows it does not And

25 they cannot give you sufficient reasons why

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1 Thats why they come in with all of these

2 fictitious false allegations against this

3 application Thats all theyre doing They

4 approved this application last year they did

5 And thats all Im asking for

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right District

7 MR McDUFFIE Just briefly and I will turn

8 the mic over to Ms Bowen

9 This is the second time youve heard that

10 there was a mirror application from last year I

11 would like to ask the Commission to go to Page 39

12 of the application There is a specific provision

13 in the application which says if the school

14 intends to replicate an existing school design

15 you are supposed to notify the district under E

16 and F in that section

17 In their application that section is blank

18 okay So they are replicating an existing school

19 design they did not notify us of that in the

20 application

21 And secondly that also takes away the

22 innovative factor of the school If theyre

23 replicating an existing school what is innovative

24 about their charter school

25 Just briefly again with respect to that

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1 private school the application is in the name of

2 Stephen Biko Private Charter School so it is a

3 private school that is making the application

4 MS BOWEN I would just like to add that if

5 there was an application that was approved last

6 year within the past five years we would be glad

7 to go back and look if theres a name thats

8 submitted for us to do reference But when we

9 looked through all of our prior applications we

10 could find no areas where there was similar an

11 exact model of an approved application that had

12 already been approved by the district

13 But to respond to point one as far as the

14 guiding principle section the mission statement

15 was general it was vague and it did not describe

16 meaningful or measurable priority It

17 inefficiently defines the values of the school and

18 was inconsistent with the appellants subsequent

19 educational program plan The question of the

20 guidance embedded within question one clearly says

21 that it should explain what the school intends to

22 do for whom and to what degree And I failed to

23 be able to fully answer all of those questions by

24 reading the statement

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Were going to have a QampA

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1 session so what were going to do now is let me

2 ask the Commission members do you have any

3 questions

4 MS BRUBAKER I would like to hear how

5 you -shy

6 DR MYERS Me

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes Dr Myers How you plan

8 on taking those low performing students to be able

9 to do dual enrollment or AP classes

10 DR MYERS Well first of all as those

11 students arrive in the school various testing

12 will be done on those students TABE testing also

13 WRAT4 testing and various things We would look

14 at the matrix of where the kid came from

15 We have a child now that came to us Georgia

16 from one of the schools in Georgia where he was

17 functioning at a lower level The WRAT4 which is

18 designed to motivate the child and test the child

19 TABE test then we get a matrix from that and we

20 set a curriculum for -- excuse me -- we set the

21 curriculum for the child give the child

22 appropriate courses that the child has already

23 taken or retake again

24 So we move the child in small groups which

25 would be one-on-one learning or it could be group

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1 learning activities The chairs in the classroom

2 are set up and a table where one to one and one to

3 one where the child can model the other child and

4 move forward

5 The APEX curriculum which is used in Duval

6 County Public Schools they just finished using

7 the APEX curriculum in one of their failing

8 schools which moved -- increased the grade two

9 grades -- I think one or two grades at Andrew

10 Jackson High School They have the APEX They

11 have several schools in Duval County thats using

12 the APEX curriculum So its a Florida curriculum

13 that is being used

14 As they expressed the application -- when I

15 looked at the application since I was using the

16 APEX curriculum I said okay why not modify this

17 and put it back into context where its being

18 used So what were doing is we just wrote the

19 application in regards to what they wanted They

20 wanted APEX We put the APEX in there Its a

21 proven fact that its successful in their public

22 schools

23 MS ALEXANDER Can you answer her questions

24 I think which is how you are going to move the low

25 learners up to eventually taking the AP test

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1 DR MYERS Right Im sorry I know I only

2 have a few more minutes or a few seconds But

3 eventually as they progress in each area in math

4 science social studies then we test again So

5 we test at the beginning test at the end

6 And as they -- at the midterm level it tells

7 us whether or not theyre going to be remediated

8 in the course or move forward As they move

9 forward we get the curriculum more rigorous again

10 for them and the next course which is in line so

11 basically one on one and group learning is

12 efficient for them Theyre going to have to take

13 the same courses but if theyre testing at lower

14 levels thats where the individualized

15 instruction will help them

16 Did I answer it

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

18 respond to that

19 MR McDUFFIE Ms Bowen would like to

20 respond But I just want to make it also clear

21 that that -- what was just explained verbally is

22 not in the application

23 MS BOWEN The APEX curriculum is about a

24 curriculum for a set population of students as

25 well as the TABE Assessment they test and measure

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1 students basic skills The expectation under the

2 Common Core the FCAT 20 far exceeds that

3 curriculum And yes we have used it with some

4 of our most lowest performing students and Andrew

5 Jackson did make some gains but they still have

6 19 percent of their students are reading

7 proficiently

8 So my concern is with that curriculum I know

9 that there is something that you needed to have a

10 better indication that was going to provide the

11 teacher with a clear pathway of how to meet those

12 gaps By giving me an assessment thats only

13 measuring my minimum skills it does not

14 demonstrate the expectation of the Lexile level

15 thats required for a college entrance And on

16 Page 39 of his application it clearly states for

17 students who are interested in pre-med coursework

18 The expectation for reading cannot be

19 provided with the diagnosis information that you

20 get with a TABE Assessment or an APEX curriculum

21 Page 10 -- Im sorry I said Page 39 its stuck

22 in my head for some reason -- but on Page 10 it

23 talks about pre-med students and the other

24 innovative -- because thats what hes saying

25 its one of the innovative factors of this

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1 program

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you Are there other

3 questions from the Commission members

4 MS BRADLEY I have a question

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Verdya

6 MS BRADLEY My question is for the school

7 the applicant Is this a solely online program

8 DR MYERS No maam Its basically online

9 and direct instruction

10 MS BRADLEY Do you discuss direct

11 instruction in here

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY The reason that I ask that

14 question is the questions in the application asks

15 specifically for a description of the curriculum

16 a description of the reading program And in your

17 responses your responses pretty much tie back to

18 the APEX curriculum so it appears that it is

19 solely reliant on And then all of the

20 documentation that you gave was from the APEX

21 program So I was just wondering is it just

22 solely online

23 DR MYERS The majority of it but theres a

24 piece where the direct instruction is in place

25 with the child because the children are culled

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1 out for the particular course learning for the

2 subject area that theyre doing The regular

3 curriculum comes in -- the APEX Lexile learning

4 comes in Everything is designed where its

5 implemented on the laptop for the child If the

6 child needs direct instruction the child is

7 culled out into an environment where he or she

8 receives the one-on-one instruction

9 MS BRADLEY Did you discuss that in here

10 DR MYERS Im pretty sure I did

11 MS ALEXANDER What page are you looking at

12 for these

13 MS BRADLEY Well it kind of goes back and

14 forth It starts on Page 16 where it starts

15 talking about the educational program and then it

16 gives me probably about 20 30 pages on APEX and

17 then it goes into the reading curriculum But Im

18 not seeing anywhere where theres any supplement

19 to that

20 Because even the question on Page 16 was

21 Describe the proposed reading or educational

22 program it sort of goes through elements of the

23 APEX program Then on Page 68 it says Describe

24 the reading curriculum

25 DR MYERS Yes maam If you look at

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1 the -shy

2 MS HITCHCOCK Stand up please

3 DR MYERS Im sorry

4 CHAIRMAN CHU If you could come to the mic

5 that would be very helpful because our court

6 reporter is trying to get it all down

7 DR MYERS Im sorry The bullet there

8 says Direct instruction individual and small

9 group instruction led by highly-qualified

10 teachers

11 MS ESPOSITO Say the page

12 MS BRADLEY Thats on Page 16 But its

13 just part of the -- its sort of an isolated

14 bullet but it doesnt explain it any further than

15 that You know it doesnt tell me that there is

16 going to be a pull-out portion

17 DR MYERS Right But as I stated I just

18 put a little piece in there because thats just a

19 little piece of the curriculum and thats why I

20 just mentioned a little piece of it there The

21 majority of it is an online based curriculum

22 MS HODGENS I have a question for the

23 school

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

25 MS HODGENS I am confused on the targeted

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1 population Im trying to get it on the motion

2 sheet so Im going to go to targeted population

3 first And I am a little confused on it because I

4 can read what you say on Page 12 And on Page 12

5 you talk about being open to all students and

6 then you talk about low-performing students and

7 then you go back to all students

8 And then when I go to Page 41 the curriculum

9 design you talk about students needing credit

10 recovery And then I continue on and I see AP

11 courses honor courses And again I dont want

12 to allude that I dont believe that kids can do

13 those courses but I want to understand what

14 population youre really looking at

15 DR MYERS Were looking at all students

16 within that demographic And within the

17 demographics it is a lower level You have lower

18 level one level two basically they are coming

19 from the downtown sector area within that 5-mile

20 radius area of the downtown

21 So when I say all students because a

22 charter school cannot deny a student from applying

23 or coming in all students are accepted if they

24 can meet transportation needs to come to school

25 So as I expressed to you thats what

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1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

Page 15: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

15

1 but he taught in the Duval County Schools for

2 many many years He was a football coach he was

3 a teacher he was an assistant principle he was a

4 principal in fact he ran three Drop In Academy

5 Schools in Duval before in fact deciding to open

6 up the new charter school at the urgence of former

7 Mayor John Delaney who is in fact on his Board

8 and as you all know is now the current President

9 of the University of North Florida So thats

10 really the backdrop of this

11 And Im going to turn it over to Joe

12 Whitaker who is on the Board and will give you a

13 little sense of whats going on with the building

14 so you get a sense of the whole background here

15 Thanks

16 MR WHITAKER Good afternoon My name is

17 Joe Whitaker and Im with the Mayors Office of

18 Economic Development for the City of Jacksonville

19 And I got intrigued by Mr Myers desire to open

20 up a charter school because I ran a loan program

21 for the City and I assisted him in another project

22 that he did to put something back into his

23 neighborhood So Ive watched him and Ive seen

24 his passion and his energy for getting things

25 done

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1 And one of the things that I admire about

2 Dr Myers is that he does what he says hes going

3 to do when he says hes going to do it And

4 thats fairly rare in my opinion

5 I would like to just clear up any other

6 misunderstandings The City of Jacksonville has

7 yet not pledged funds for his project until we

8 have a charter school designation so that we dont

9 waste a lot of time trying to raise money But

10 essentially the Old Stanton High School was built

11 in 1901 and it is now just a shell and it is

12 governed by a not-for-profit Board And we have

13 achieved the first step of the goal and that is

14 they have given us site control

15 So we do have the ability if were granted a

16 charter to be able to go out then and raise the

17 funds to be able to rehabilitate this building and

18 actually put upwards of 400 young students in

19 there in high school

20 And we dont have a high school in downtown

21 Jacksonville and we believe that this opportunity

22 to redevelop the Old Stanton building is a

23 worthwhile endeavor on behalf of our redevelopment

24 efforts and were anxious to do that

25 We have put together a Board that we believe

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1 has the fundraising capacity to be able to

2 generate enough private capital to get this kicked

3 off And the City of Jacksonville has an historic

4 loan fund that we have the ability to be able to

5 get some money from to finish the product And we

6 think its going to be a success

7 Downtown Jacksonville is going through its

8 own renaissance We have people moving downtown

9 and were bringing more retail downtown and our

10 Mayor is focused on rebuilding downtown So we

11 believe that we have an opportunity to be

12 successful

13 I chose to volunteer to be on Gregs Board

14 because I believe in him And we have been

15 working to get other prominent people in the

16 community on this Board so that we can make a

17 difference Thats what this is all about

18 As an economic development professional with

19 the City of Jacksonville for the last 30 years

20 Ive been involved in a lot of projects 156

21 projects since 2001 and weve generated private

22 capital investments of $14 million and weve

23 created 15000 jobs So the group that Im

24 working with we believe that this is achievable

25 But the first step is to get site control we

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1 have that Now the next step is we get the

2 charter then we have the ability to be able to

3 raise the funds you know to put this project

4 together Ill be happy to answer any questions

5 you may have

6 MS ALEXANDER Given that the school has

7 already opened and is successfully educating

8 students we believe that there wasnt good cause

9 in fact to deny the application and we will be

10 happy to answer any questions with respect to the

11 specific categories I just didnt want to go

12 through them twice given that its late in the

13 day So I just wanted to give you a background

14 thats where we are And we respectfully request

15 that you grant our appeal and thank you very

16 much

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

18 Representatives for the district

19 MR McDUFFIE Thank you members of the

20 Commission Again my name is Brian McDuffie

21 Im Executive Director for Policy and Compliance

22 with Duval County Public Schools

23 With me to my left is Ms Jackie Bowen

24 Executive Director for Academic Services

25 Ms Angela Heiney who is Coordinator of Financial

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1 Reporting We also have Karen Chastain who is

2 Chief Legal Officer for the district as well as

3 Shanita Roper and Anita Henry-Smith who are from

4 our charter schools office

5 The first thing that I want to touch upon is

6 the charter school climate in Duval County We

7 approved 13 out of 15 applications that went to

8 the Board during this last cycle We currently

9 have 21 charter schools operating in Duval County

10 And I think if every application or every

11 applicant that had good intentions had their

12 charter school approved there would be an

13 overwhelming number of charter schools It is not

14 necessarily about worthwhile intentions

15 And there has never been any question on our

16 part about the integrity of the people trying to

17 start this charter school none whatsoever They

18 appear to be good people with good intentions It

19 is not about that It is also not about

20 redeveloping downtown Jacksonville It is about

21 the children

22 And thats what we have been given the task

23 of doing as a sponsor to look and make sure that

24 when these applications come in that the children

25 are protected

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1 What Im going to do today is basically

2 provide the Commission with a slight overview with

3 respect to Issue 2 Ms Heiney will talk with

4 respect to Issue 3 And Ms Bowen will talk with

5 respect to Issue 1 just as an overview

6 So moving to Issue 2 governance the first

7 thing -- again keep within the time

8 constraints -- as a highlight the applicant is a

9 private school That in and on its face is a

10 reason for denial If you look at Florida

11 Statutes 100233(3)(b) a private school cannot be

12 a charter school

13 Moving on to management With respect to the

14 management section we were provided with

15 essentially a lot of vague information They

16 failed to give the management structure job

17 descriptions for teachers the administrative

18 positions They failed to give criteria as to how

19 they were going to select teachers And they also

20 failed to describe how they were going to monitor

21 teacher certification as well as how to fill

22 status

23 Based on these measures with respect to

24 Issue 2 under governance and management we feel

25 that the School Board had competent substantial

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1 evidence and good cause to deny the application

2 And next to speak will be Ms Jackie Bowen

3 MS BOWEN Good afternoon Im Jacqueline

4 Bowen the Academic Services Executive Director

5 I do appreciate the applicants passion for

6 students thats why Im here But I would also

7 like to reiterate as our counsel has said that I

8 am not a historical resident of Jacksonville And

9 as we review applications I have no knowledge of

10 many of the historical factors or the political

11 things that are behind it having only been in the

12 city for 12 years My goal and every analysis or

13 review of the complete instructional plan is that

14 it benefit children

15 So in reviewing the actual application there

16 were great deficiencies in the areas of the

17 guiding principles the targeted population was

18 very unclear the education program design the

19 curriculum plan the student performance

20 assessments evaluation the actual educational

21 supporting plan for the ESE population as well as

22 ELL students

23 So for example within this application

24 its supposed to provide any reader or reviewer a

25 very clear picture of what a student will need to

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1 do and what they will experience as they are

2 attending that institution meaning that I should

3 have an understanding of the applicant And the

4 applicant was real clear that he wanted to

5 provide the whole child and provide that

6 experience

7 But it didnt give me a clear understanding

8 or the reviewers upon my team about the

9 structure how the things that were identified

10 were truly going to support and guide teachers

11 decisions to make sure theyre meeting the

12 standards of the NGSS and the Common Core and

13 ultimately graduating

14 The application was indistinguishable between

15 the targeted population because at one point it

16 talked about at-risk students from a particular

17 5-mile geographic dynamics and then it said all

18 students no matter what according to the

19 standard of expectation

20 The applicant briefly described a pre-med

21 program a dual enrollment advanced placement

22 classes And the appeal reiterated the error by

23 describing instructional programs and learning

24 strategies but they failed to provide a clear

25 picture as to how you were going to take

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1 struggling students or any student to that

2 advanced and rigorous curriculum

3 And as we can say that the standard requires

4 the application to explain not only what the

5 school is going to teach but how they were going

6 to teach it I was continually searching which

7 Im not required to do throughout the entire

8 application to see how was this instruction going

9 to be -- what is that child going to experience on

10 a daily basis And it was very unclear

11 Statute 100233 also states that the charter

12 application must have a detailed curriculum plan

13 a curriculum plan not a curriculum resource a

14 plan for instruction that illustrates how those

15 students are going to be provided services to meet

16 those graduation requirements We are in the

17 business of graduating students

18 So the application also didnt provide a very

19 clear reading curriculum They referenced the

20 Just Read Florida Website which Im very happy

21 that they were there supporting but it is a

22 resource document it does not outline a

23 curriculum plan And unfortunately -- and Im

24 saying this in this building -- it really only

25 sports primary education When you get towards

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1 secondary the resources become very limited And

2 I know theyre working on that

3 So the statute requires that we deny the

4 application on the fact that the reading

5 curriculum plan was not sufficient at all

6 Another key issue that was concerning which

7 led to a good cause denial of the application was

8 that a risk of students not being prepared for the

9 FCAT Because they identified assessments which

10 Im very familiar with failed to have the

11 measuring tools that would guide teacher

12 instruction in being able to support deficiencies

13 or make accommodations or get those students ready

14 for that you know accelerated dual enrollment

15 advanced AP or pre-med curriculum

16 Im going to wrap it up because I know

17 everybody is ready to go When we talk about our

18 ELL students and we are doing a lot within our

19 districts to better support all students there

20 was really -- I struggled with finding out how the

21 students were going to enter our school And an

22 ELL student is just one designation because you

23 can have an ELL student that also has an ESE

24 designation and has some little deficiencies in

25 particular other areas

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1 There was no -- they failed to demonstrate

2 how they were going to make choices of selecting

3 the appropriate materials to meet the needs of all

4 students

5 To say we will select resources but there

6 was no clear indication of how those decisions

7 would be made The assessments didnt provide

8 that detailed information to guide that choice so

9 upon that there was no reason but to have a good

10 cause for denial

11 MS HEINEY Good afternoon My name is

12 Angela Heiney H-e-i-n-e-y and I reviewed the

13 business plan for the applicant As an overview

14 the entire business plan did not meet the standard

15 with the exception of the transportation which

16 only partially met the standard

17 There were quite a few reasons that we found

18 for this The biggest -- there were statutory

19 failures all over the place 100233(6)(a)5

20 states that there has to be an annual financial

21 plan based on projected revenues and expenditures

22 What we found is that the revenues and

23 expenditures provided were unsubstantiated

24 unsupported and there was missing money all over

25 the place For example on Page 107 the

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1 applicant states theyre going to take out

2 $500000 in loans to fund their startup however

3 if you look at their five-year business plan

4 there is no repayment for those loans And they

5 provided absolutely no correspondence from any

6 lending institution that says theyre willing to

7 give half a million dollars and not expect a penny

8 back for over five years In this current

9 economic climate that rarely if ever happens

10 Ive never seen it

11 The application and the denial or the

12 response to the denial that was filed -- the

13 notice of appeal -- there were several points that

14 were made in our denial however they never even

15 discussed those

16 For example the application specifically

17 states that they plan on contracting out HR and

18 accounting services however they dont know how

19 much it is so they didnt even include that in

20 their budget For some of our schools that is

21 thousands and thousands of dollars a year just

22 missing

23 Theres inconsistencies Mr Whitaker just

24 stated that the City of Jacksonville has not

25 promised the money However Page 104 states that

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1 they have a verbal commitment There is no

2 evidence of any commitment no letters from former

3 Mayor Delaney no letters from current Mayor

4 Browns office anybody even suggesting that they

5 know who this school is and that theyre willing

6 to support it

7 A second statutory failing occurs again in

8 (6)(a)5 where it states that the application must

9 have a description of controls that safeguard

10 financing

11 During the general help session the

12 applicants were told they must give detailed

13 procedures on certain areas Why Because these

14 are the areas that consistently have fraud

15 errors thefts mistakes We dont like to

16 believe that will happen at schools but frankly

17 bad things do happen

18 They were told you must have accounts

19 payables accounts receivables cash management

20 payroll those areas Why This is where weve

21 seen problems happen There was nothing There

22 was some general policy given on Pages 113 and 14

23 And they state on Page 113 there will be

24 implementation of many internal financial

25 controls however that is not a description of

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1 controls which is what is mandated by the

2 statute

3 Another failing occurs on Statute 21839

4 This statute mandates the use of an independent

5 certified public account for performing annual

6 financial reporting so the audited financial

7 statements which are required

8 In Attachment 7 it states that the same

9 person providing accounting services will also

10 perform the auditing services According to the

11 American Institute of CPAs this is actually a

12 violation of independence and an ethics violation

13 itself So anybody who is willing to do both is

14 not by statute an independent auditor And they

15 have stated in their application thats what

16 theyre going to do

17 When you see one statutory violation that is

18 certainly competent and substantial evidence for

19 denial When you see at least three just in one

20 section now were getting overwhelming grounds

21 for denial

22 But we also saw areas in the facilities where

23 they simply state that they will meet statute

24 Saying youre going to meet statute is not the

25 same as explaining what youre going to do

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1 Theyre stating in their financials that theyre

2 going to have $3 million worth of renovations

3 What on earth are you going to do for $3 million

4 Mr Whitaker stated that the building is just

5 a shell However the application states that it

6 is currently being in use by a daycare for the

7 Urban League So whats going on Theres no

8 consistency between whats being said whats

9 being done in the application

10 In that stance we do not make assumptions

11 We must go with what is written So any verbal

12 statements we cant justify that because all we

13 can hold the applicant to is what has been written

14 in that document

15 We have a problem with food service They

16 state that theyre not going to use NSLP and

17 theyre going to contract a vendor which is

18 perfectly acceptable except their target

19 population is going to be children that are at

20 risk Specifically this is a very high population

21 of children who will qualify for free and reduced

22 lunch What about the kids that cant pay for

23 their food what are they going to do all day in

24 class We cant starve children thats wrong

25 Theres no money in the budget for -shy

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

2 MS HEINEY Im sorry

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

4 MS HEINEY Theres no money in the budget

5 for food so theres no money theres no plan

6 And this is an area that has direct effect on

7 health and well-being of the children

8 The action plan that they gave is completely

9 unrealistic and does not meet up against their

10 academic standards For example they state that

11 theyre going to use Achieve 3000 Achieve 3000

12 is a difficult product to use It does require

13 training

14 And the startup budget and the statement of

15 cash flow is there is no money whatsoever for

16 teacher training So are these teachers supposed

17 to walk in on their first day knowing how to use

18 it The action plan says theres going to be

19 training but theres no money for it so how are

20 you going do it As I said theres quite a bit

21 of reasons And if you have any questions we

22 would be more than happy to respond

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay This takes us to

24 Issue 1 whether the applicant failed to comply

25 with the educational plan regarding guiding

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1 principles target population educational program

2 design curriculum plan student performance

3 assessment and evaluation exceptional students

4 and English language learners

5 So the school if you want to have a couple

6 of minutes to speak directly to the educational

7 plan and then well give the district the same

8 amount of time

9 MS ALEXANDER Sure With respect to the

10 mission statement we believe that the denial was

11 not supported by competent substantial evidence in

12 any way For example the School Board alleges

13 that we didnt provide an adequate mission

14 statement or describe how the school utilizes

15 guiding principles

16 As you can kind of get the sense from hearing

17 Dr Myers hes got a pretty sophisticated sense

18 of mission And with respect to the mission

19 statement the application specifically says on

20 Page 4 The mission statement of the charter high

21 school is to provide an exemplary personalized

22 learning program in a supportive resource rich

23 contemporary learning environment Stephen Biko

24 Charter High School is dedicated to excellence and

25 committed to nurturing passionate lifelong

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1 learners

2 It also says that The school will meet the

3 high standards of student achievement by

4 supporting positive academic outcomes for students

5 by addressing the academic social economical -shy

6 Im sorry -- emotional and behavioral needs of

7 enrolled students And it says that High

8 standards will be evident which will offer parents

9 and guardians of students currently attending the

10 elementary and charter schools of Duval County the

11 flexibility to choose the school

12 So our view is that if you actually look at

13 the application there is a specific mission its

14 very clear and in fact weve met the standard

15 Just as an aside there was a reference to a

16 private school cant be a charter school

17 Dr Myers started the private school on donations

18 alone in the interim because he wanted to try to

19 start offering education to the average students

20 as quickly as possible He consulted with the DOE

21 and was told that in fact he could open up the

22 school and that if the charter is granted he

23 could transition from the private school into the

24 charter model so there isnt any prohibition

25 against how hes doing it

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1 But our view is if you look at the

2 application there is a clear mission its

3 outlined there and it did meet the standard So

4 thank you

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

6 District

7 DR MYERS Can I

8 CHAIRMAN CHU You have about 30 seconds

9 DR MYERS Thank you I contacted the

10 Department of Education and they expressed to me

11 that I have to close the school and once I close

12 the school every child has to apply So that was

13 done prior to opening up the private school

14 As they stated theres nowhere in that

15 application where it states (inaudible) So all

16 of these things are preposterous in what theyre

17 saying and its just things that theyre trying

18 to elaborate to make the application look bad

19 As I expressed to you Board members this

20 application was approved similar last year It

21 was the exact application So everything that

22 shes coming up with and all three of them does

23 not make sense it does not It does not weigh

24 this application God knows it does not And

25 they cannot give you sufficient reasons why

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1 Thats why they come in with all of these

2 fictitious false allegations against this

3 application Thats all theyre doing They

4 approved this application last year they did

5 And thats all Im asking for

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right District

7 MR McDUFFIE Just briefly and I will turn

8 the mic over to Ms Bowen

9 This is the second time youve heard that

10 there was a mirror application from last year I

11 would like to ask the Commission to go to Page 39

12 of the application There is a specific provision

13 in the application which says if the school

14 intends to replicate an existing school design

15 you are supposed to notify the district under E

16 and F in that section

17 In their application that section is blank

18 okay So they are replicating an existing school

19 design they did not notify us of that in the

20 application

21 And secondly that also takes away the

22 innovative factor of the school If theyre

23 replicating an existing school what is innovative

24 about their charter school

25 Just briefly again with respect to that

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1 private school the application is in the name of

2 Stephen Biko Private Charter School so it is a

3 private school that is making the application

4 MS BOWEN I would just like to add that if

5 there was an application that was approved last

6 year within the past five years we would be glad

7 to go back and look if theres a name thats

8 submitted for us to do reference But when we

9 looked through all of our prior applications we

10 could find no areas where there was similar an

11 exact model of an approved application that had

12 already been approved by the district

13 But to respond to point one as far as the

14 guiding principle section the mission statement

15 was general it was vague and it did not describe

16 meaningful or measurable priority It

17 inefficiently defines the values of the school and

18 was inconsistent with the appellants subsequent

19 educational program plan The question of the

20 guidance embedded within question one clearly says

21 that it should explain what the school intends to

22 do for whom and to what degree And I failed to

23 be able to fully answer all of those questions by

24 reading the statement

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Were going to have a QampA

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1 session so what were going to do now is let me

2 ask the Commission members do you have any

3 questions

4 MS BRUBAKER I would like to hear how

5 you -shy

6 DR MYERS Me

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes Dr Myers How you plan

8 on taking those low performing students to be able

9 to do dual enrollment or AP classes

10 DR MYERS Well first of all as those

11 students arrive in the school various testing

12 will be done on those students TABE testing also

13 WRAT4 testing and various things We would look

14 at the matrix of where the kid came from

15 We have a child now that came to us Georgia

16 from one of the schools in Georgia where he was

17 functioning at a lower level The WRAT4 which is

18 designed to motivate the child and test the child

19 TABE test then we get a matrix from that and we

20 set a curriculum for -- excuse me -- we set the

21 curriculum for the child give the child

22 appropriate courses that the child has already

23 taken or retake again

24 So we move the child in small groups which

25 would be one-on-one learning or it could be group

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1 learning activities The chairs in the classroom

2 are set up and a table where one to one and one to

3 one where the child can model the other child and

4 move forward

5 The APEX curriculum which is used in Duval

6 County Public Schools they just finished using

7 the APEX curriculum in one of their failing

8 schools which moved -- increased the grade two

9 grades -- I think one or two grades at Andrew

10 Jackson High School They have the APEX They

11 have several schools in Duval County thats using

12 the APEX curriculum So its a Florida curriculum

13 that is being used

14 As they expressed the application -- when I

15 looked at the application since I was using the

16 APEX curriculum I said okay why not modify this

17 and put it back into context where its being

18 used So what were doing is we just wrote the

19 application in regards to what they wanted They

20 wanted APEX We put the APEX in there Its a

21 proven fact that its successful in their public

22 schools

23 MS ALEXANDER Can you answer her questions

24 I think which is how you are going to move the low

25 learners up to eventually taking the AP test

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1 DR MYERS Right Im sorry I know I only

2 have a few more minutes or a few seconds But

3 eventually as they progress in each area in math

4 science social studies then we test again So

5 we test at the beginning test at the end

6 And as they -- at the midterm level it tells

7 us whether or not theyre going to be remediated

8 in the course or move forward As they move

9 forward we get the curriculum more rigorous again

10 for them and the next course which is in line so

11 basically one on one and group learning is

12 efficient for them Theyre going to have to take

13 the same courses but if theyre testing at lower

14 levels thats where the individualized

15 instruction will help them

16 Did I answer it

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

18 respond to that

19 MR McDUFFIE Ms Bowen would like to

20 respond But I just want to make it also clear

21 that that -- what was just explained verbally is

22 not in the application

23 MS BOWEN The APEX curriculum is about a

24 curriculum for a set population of students as

25 well as the TABE Assessment they test and measure

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1 students basic skills The expectation under the

2 Common Core the FCAT 20 far exceeds that

3 curriculum And yes we have used it with some

4 of our most lowest performing students and Andrew

5 Jackson did make some gains but they still have

6 19 percent of their students are reading

7 proficiently

8 So my concern is with that curriculum I know

9 that there is something that you needed to have a

10 better indication that was going to provide the

11 teacher with a clear pathway of how to meet those

12 gaps By giving me an assessment thats only

13 measuring my minimum skills it does not

14 demonstrate the expectation of the Lexile level

15 thats required for a college entrance And on

16 Page 39 of his application it clearly states for

17 students who are interested in pre-med coursework

18 The expectation for reading cannot be

19 provided with the diagnosis information that you

20 get with a TABE Assessment or an APEX curriculum

21 Page 10 -- Im sorry I said Page 39 its stuck

22 in my head for some reason -- but on Page 10 it

23 talks about pre-med students and the other

24 innovative -- because thats what hes saying

25 its one of the innovative factors of this

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1 program

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you Are there other

3 questions from the Commission members

4 MS BRADLEY I have a question

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Verdya

6 MS BRADLEY My question is for the school

7 the applicant Is this a solely online program

8 DR MYERS No maam Its basically online

9 and direct instruction

10 MS BRADLEY Do you discuss direct

11 instruction in here

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY The reason that I ask that

14 question is the questions in the application asks

15 specifically for a description of the curriculum

16 a description of the reading program And in your

17 responses your responses pretty much tie back to

18 the APEX curriculum so it appears that it is

19 solely reliant on And then all of the

20 documentation that you gave was from the APEX

21 program So I was just wondering is it just

22 solely online

23 DR MYERS The majority of it but theres a

24 piece where the direct instruction is in place

25 with the child because the children are culled

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1 out for the particular course learning for the

2 subject area that theyre doing The regular

3 curriculum comes in -- the APEX Lexile learning

4 comes in Everything is designed where its

5 implemented on the laptop for the child If the

6 child needs direct instruction the child is

7 culled out into an environment where he or she

8 receives the one-on-one instruction

9 MS BRADLEY Did you discuss that in here

10 DR MYERS Im pretty sure I did

11 MS ALEXANDER What page are you looking at

12 for these

13 MS BRADLEY Well it kind of goes back and

14 forth It starts on Page 16 where it starts

15 talking about the educational program and then it

16 gives me probably about 20 30 pages on APEX and

17 then it goes into the reading curriculum But Im

18 not seeing anywhere where theres any supplement

19 to that

20 Because even the question on Page 16 was

21 Describe the proposed reading or educational

22 program it sort of goes through elements of the

23 APEX program Then on Page 68 it says Describe

24 the reading curriculum

25 DR MYERS Yes maam If you look at

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1 the -shy

2 MS HITCHCOCK Stand up please

3 DR MYERS Im sorry

4 CHAIRMAN CHU If you could come to the mic

5 that would be very helpful because our court

6 reporter is trying to get it all down

7 DR MYERS Im sorry The bullet there

8 says Direct instruction individual and small

9 group instruction led by highly-qualified

10 teachers

11 MS ESPOSITO Say the page

12 MS BRADLEY Thats on Page 16 But its

13 just part of the -- its sort of an isolated

14 bullet but it doesnt explain it any further than

15 that You know it doesnt tell me that there is

16 going to be a pull-out portion

17 DR MYERS Right But as I stated I just

18 put a little piece in there because thats just a

19 little piece of the curriculum and thats why I

20 just mentioned a little piece of it there The

21 majority of it is an online based curriculum

22 MS HODGENS I have a question for the

23 school

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

25 MS HODGENS I am confused on the targeted

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1 population Im trying to get it on the motion

2 sheet so Im going to go to targeted population

3 first And I am a little confused on it because I

4 can read what you say on Page 12 And on Page 12

5 you talk about being open to all students and

6 then you talk about low-performing students and

7 then you go back to all students

8 And then when I go to Page 41 the curriculum

9 design you talk about students needing credit

10 recovery And then I continue on and I see AP

11 courses honor courses And again I dont want

12 to allude that I dont believe that kids can do

13 those courses but I want to understand what

14 population youre really looking at

15 DR MYERS Were looking at all students

16 within that demographic And within the

17 demographics it is a lower level You have lower

18 level one level two basically they are coming

19 from the downtown sector area within that 5-mile

20 radius area of the downtown

21 So when I say all students because a

22 charter school cannot deny a student from applying

23 or coming in all students are accepted if they

24 can meet transportation needs to come to school

25 So as I expressed to you thats what

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1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

Page 16: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

16

1 And one of the things that I admire about

2 Dr Myers is that he does what he says hes going

3 to do when he says hes going to do it And

4 thats fairly rare in my opinion

5 I would like to just clear up any other

6 misunderstandings The City of Jacksonville has

7 yet not pledged funds for his project until we

8 have a charter school designation so that we dont

9 waste a lot of time trying to raise money But

10 essentially the Old Stanton High School was built

11 in 1901 and it is now just a shell and it is

12 governed by a not-for-profit Board And we have

13 achieved the first step of the goal and that is

14 they have given us site control

15 So we do have the ability if were granted a

16 charter to be able to go out then and raise the

17 funds to be able to rehabilitate this building and

18 actually put upwards of 400 young students in

19 there in high school

20 And we dont have a high school in downtown

21 Jacksonville and we believe that this opportunity

22 to redevelop the Old Stanton building is a

23 worthwhile endeavor on behalf of our redevelopment

24 efforts and were anxious to do that

25 We have put together a Board that we believe

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1 has the fundraising capacity to be able to

2 generate enough private capital to get this kicked

3 off And the City of Jacksonville has an historic

4 loan fund that we have the ability to be able to

5 get some money from to finish the product And we

6 think its going to be a success

7 Downtown Jacksonville is going through its

8 own renaissance We have people moving downtown

9 and were bringing more retail downtown and our

10 Mayor is focused on rebuilding downtown So we

11 believe that we have an opportunity to be

12 successful

13 I chose to volunteer to be on Gregs Board

14 because I believe in him And we have been

15 working to get other prominent people in the

16 community on this Board so that we can make a

17 difference Thats what this is all about

18 As an economic development professional with

19 the City of Jacksonville for the last 30 years

20 Ive been involved in a lot of projects 156

21 projects since 2001 and weve generated private

22 capital investments of $14 million and weve

23 created 15000 jobs So the group that Im

24 working with we believe that this is achievable

25 But the first step is to get site control we

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1 have that Now the next step is we get the

2 charter then we have the ability to be able to

3 raise the funds you know to put this project

4 together Ill be happy to answer any questions

5 you may have

6 MS ALEXANDER Given that the school has

7 already opened and is successfully educating

8 students we believe that there wasnt good cause

9 in fact to deny the application and we will be

10 happy to answer any questions with respect to the

11 specific categories I just didnt want to go

12 through them twice given that its late in the

13 day So I just wanted to give you a background

14 thats where we are And we respectfully request

15 that you grant our appeal and thank you very

16 much

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

18 Representatives for the district

19 MR McDUFFIE Thank you members of the

20 Commission Again my name is Brian McDuffie

21 Im Executive Director for Policy and Compliance

22 with Duval County Public Schools

23 With me to my left is Ms Jackie Bowen

24 Executive Director for Academic Services

25 Ms Angela Heiney who is Coordinator of Financial

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1 Reporting We also have Karen Chastain who is

2 Chief Legal Officer for the district as well as

3 Shanita Roper and Anita Henry-Smith who are from

4 our charter schools office

5 The first thing that I want to touch upon is

6 the charter school climate in Duval County We

7 approved 13 out of 15 applications that went to

8 the Board during this last cycle We currently

9 have 21 charter schools operating in Duval County

10 And I think if every application or every

11 applicant that had good intentions had their

12 charter school approved there would be an

13 overwhelming number of charter schools It is not

14 necessarily about worthwhile intentions

15 And there has never been any question on our

16 part about the integrity of the people trying to

17 start this charter school none whatsoever They

18 appear to be good people with good intentions It

19 is not about that It is also not about

20 redeveloping downtown Jacksonville It is about

21 the children

22 And thats what we have been given the task

23 of doing as a sponsor to look and make sure that

24 when these applications come in that the children

25 are protected

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1 What Im going to do today is basically

2 provide the Commission with a slight overview with

3 respect to Issue 2 Ms Heiney will talk with

4 respect to Issue 3 And Ms Bowen will talk with

5 respect to Issue 1 just as an overview

6 So moving to Issue 2 governance the first

7 thing -- again keep within the time

8 constraints -- as a highlight the applicant is a

9 private school That in and on its face is a

10 reason for denial If you look at Florida

11 Statutes 100233(3)(b) a private school cannot be

12 a charter school

13 Moving on to management With respect to the

14 management section we were provided with

15 essentially a lot of vague information They

16 failed to give the management structure job

17 descriptions for teachers the administrative

18 positions They failed to give criteria as to how

19 they were going to select teachers And they also

20 failed to describe how they were going to monitor

21 teacher certification as well as how to fill

22 status

23 Based on these measures with respect to

24 Issue 2 under governance and management we feel

25 that the School Board had competent substantial

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1 evidence and good cause to deny the application

2 And next to speak will be Ms Jackie Bowen

3 MS BOWEN Good afternoon Im Jacqueline

4 Bowen the Academic Services Executive Director

5 I do appreciate the applicants passion for

6 students thats why Im here But I would also

7 like to reiterate as our counsel has said that I

8 am not a historical resident of Jacksonville And

9 as we review applications I have no knowledge of

10 many of the historical factors or the political

11 things that are behind it having only been in the

12 city for 12 years My goal and every analysis or

13 review of the complete instructional plan is that

14 it benefit children

15 So in reviewing the actual application there

16 were great deficiencies in the areas of the

17 guiding principles the targeted population was

18 very unclear the education program design the

19 curriculum plan the student performance

20 assessments evaluation the actual educational

21 supporting plan for the ESE population as well as

22 ELL students

23 So for example within this application

24 its supposed to provide any reader or reviewer a

25 very clear picture of what a student will need to

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1 do and what they will experience as they are

2 attending that institution meaning that I should

3 have an understanding of the applicant And the

4 applicant was real clear that he wanted to

5 provide the whole child and provide that

6 experience

7 But it didnt give me a clear understanding

8 or the reviewers upon my team about the

9 structure how the things that were identified

10 were truly going to support and guide teachers

11 decisions to make sure theyre meeting the

12 standards of the NGSS and the Common Core and

13 ultimately graduating

14 The application was indistinguishable between

15 the targeted population because at one point it

16 talked about at-risk students from a particular

17 5-mile geographic dynamics and then it said all

18 students no matter what according to the

19 standard of expectation

20 The applicant briefly described a pre-med

21 program a dual enrollment advanced placement

22 classes And the appeal reiterated the error by

23 describing instructional programs and learning

24 strategies but they failed to provide a clear

25 picture as to how you were going to take

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1 struggling students or any student to that

2 advanced and rigorous curriculum

3 And as we can say that the standard requires

4 the application to explain not only what the

5 school is going to teach but how they were going

6 to teach it I was continually searching which

7 Im not required to do throughout the entire

8 application to see how was this instruction going

9 to be -- what is that child going to experience on

10 a daily basis And it was very unclear

11 Statute 100233 also states that the charter

12 application must have a detailed curriculum plan

13 a curriculum plan not a curriculum resource a

14 plan for instruction that illustrates how those

15 students are going to be provided services to meet

16 those graduation requirements We are in the

17 business of graduating students

18 So the application also didnt provide a very

19 clear reading curriculum They referenced the

20 Just Read Florida Website which Im very happy

21 that they were there supporting but it is a

22 resource document it does not outline a

23 curriculum plan And unfortunately -- and Im

24 saying this in this building -- it really only

25 sports primary education When you get towards

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1 secondary the resources become very limited And

2 I know theyre working on that

3 So the statute requires that we deny the

4 application on the fact that the reading

5 curriculum plan was not sufficient at all

6 Another key issue that was concerning which

7 led to a good cause denial of the application was

8 that a risk of students not being prepared for the

9 FCAT Because they identified assessments which

10 Im very familiar with failed to have the

11 measuring tools that would guide teacher

12 instruction in being able to support deficiencies

13 or make accommodations or get those students ready

14 for that you know accelerated dual enrollment

15 advanced AP or pre-med curriculum

16 Im going to wrap it up because I know

17 everybody is ready to go When we talk about our

18 ELL students and we are doing a lot within our

19 districts to better support all students there

20 was really -- I struggled with finding out how the

21 students were going to enter our school And an

22 ELL student is just one designation because you

23 can have an ELL student that also has an ESE

24 designation and has some little deficiencies in

25 particular other areas

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1 There was no -- they failed to demonstrate

2 how they were going to make choices of selecting

3 the appropriate materials to meet the needs of all

4 students

5 To say we will select resources but there

6 was no clear indication of how those decisions

7 would be made The assessments didnt provide

8 that detailed information to guide that choice so

9 upon that there was no reason but to have a good

10 cause for denial

11 MS HEINEY Good afternoon My name is

12 Angela Heiney H-e-i-n-e-y and I reviewed the

13 business plan for the applicant As an overview

14 the entire business plan did not meet the standard

15 with the exception of the transportation which

16 only partially met the standard

17 There were quite a few reasons that we found

18 for this The biggest -- there were statutory

19 failures all over the place 100233(6)(a)5

20 states that there has to be an annual financial

21 plan based on projected revenues and expenditures

22 What we found is that the revenues and

23 expenditures provided were unsubstantiated

24 unsupported and there was missing money all over

25 the place For example on Page 107 the

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1 applicant states theyre going to take out

2 $500000 in loans to fund their startup however

3 if you look at their five-year business plan

4 there is no repayment for those loans And they

5 provided absolutely no correspondence from any

6 lending institution that says theyre willing to

7 give half a million dollars and not expect a penny

8 back for over five years In this current

9 economic climate that rarely if ever happens

10 Ive never seen it

11 The application and the denial or the

12 response to the denial that was filed -- the

13 notice of appeal -- there were several points that

14 were made in our denial however they never even

15 discussed those

16 For example the application specifically

17 states that they plan on contracting out HR and

18 accounting services however they dont know how

19 much it is so they didnt even include that in

20 their budget For some of our schools that is

21 thousands and thousands of dollars a year just

22 missing

23 Theres inconsistencies Mr Whitaker just

24 stated that the City of Jacksonville has not

25 promised the money However Page 104 states that

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1 they have a verbal commitment There is no

2 evidence of any commitment no letters from former

3 Mayor Delaney no letters from current Mayor

4 Browns office anybody even suggesting that they

5 know who this school is and that theyre willing

6 to support it

7 A second statutory failing occurs again in

8 (6)(a)5 where it states that the application must

9 have a description of controls that safeguard

10 financing

11 During the general help session the

12 applicants were told they must give detailed

13 procedures on certain areas Why Because these

14 are the areas that consistently have fraud

15 errors thefts mistakes We dont like to

16 believe that will happen at schools but frankly

17 bad things do happen

18 They were told you must have accounts

19 payables accounts receivables cash management

20 payroll those areas Why This is where weve

21 seen problems happen There was nothing There

22 was some general policy given on Pages 113 and 14

23 And they state on Page 113 there will be

24 implementation of many internal financial

25 controls however that is not a description of

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1 controls which is what is mandated by the

2 statute

3 Another failing occurs on Statute 21839

4 This statute mandates the use of an independent

5 certified public account for performing annual

6 financial reporting so the audited financial

7 statements which are required

8 In Attachment 7 it states that the same

9 person providing accounting services will also

10 perform the auditing services According to the

11 American Institute of CPAs this is actually a

12 violation of independence and an ethics violation

13 itself So anybody who is willing to do both is

14 not by statute an independent auditor And they

15 have stated in their application thats what

16 theyre going to do

17 When you see one statutory violation that is

18 certainly competent and substantial evidence for

19 denial When you see at least three just in one

20 section now were getting overwhelming grounds

21 for denial

22 But we also saw areas in the facilities where

23 they simply state that they will meet statute

24 Saying youre going to meet statute is not the

25 same as explaining what youre going to do

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1 Theyre stating in their financials that theyre

2 going to have $3 million worth of renovations

3 What on earth are you going to do for $3 million

4 Mr Whitaker stated that the building is just

5 a shell However the application states that it

6 is currently being in use by a daycare for the

7 Urban League So whats going on Theres no

8 consistency between whats being said whats

9 being done in the application

10 In that stance we do not make assumptions

11 We must go with what is written So any verbal

12 statements we cant justify that because all we

13 can hold the applicant to is what has been written

14 in that document

15 We have a problem with food service They

16 state that theyre not going to use NSLP and

17 theyre going to contract a vendor which is

18 perfectly acceptable except their target

19 population is going to be children that are at

20 risk Specifically this is a very high population

21 of children who will qualify for free and reduced

22 lunch What about the kids that cant pay for

23 their food what are they going to do all day in

24 class We cant starve children thats wrong

25 Theres no money in the budget for -shy

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

2 MS HEINEY Im sorry

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

4 MS HEINEY Theres no money in the budget

5 for food so theres no money theres no plan

6 And this is an area that has direct effect on

7 health and well-being of the children

8 The action plan that they gave is completely

9 unrealistic and does not meet up against their

10 academic standards For example they state that

11 theyre going to use Achieve 3000 Achieve 3000

12 is a difficult product to use It does require

13 training

14 And the startup budget and the statement of

15 cash flow is there is no money whatsoever for

16 teacher training So are these teachers supposed

17 to walk in on their first day knowing how to use

18 it The action plan says theres going to be

19 training but theres no money for it so how are

20 you going do it As I said theres quite a bit

21 of reasons And if you have any questions we

22 would be more than happy to respond

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay This takes us to

24 Issue 1 whether the applicant failed to comply

25 with the educational plan regarding guiding

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1 principles target population educational program

2 design curriculum plan student performance

3 assessment and evaluation exceptional students

4 and English language learners

5 So the school if you want to have a couple

6 of minutes to speak directly to the educational

7 plan and then well give the district the same

8 amount of time

9 MS ALEXANDER Sure With respect to the

10 mission statement we believe that the denial was

11 not supported by competent substantial evidence in

12 any way For example the School Board alleges

13 that we didnt provide an adequate mission

14 statement or describe how the school utilizes

15 guiding principles

16 As you can kind of get the sense from hearing

17 Dr Myers hes got a pretty sophisticated sense

18 of mission And with respect to the mission

19 statement the application specifically says on

20 Page 4 The mission statement of the charter high

21 school is to provide an exemplary personalized

22 learning program in a supportive resource rich

23 contemporary learning environment Stephen Biko

24 Charter High School is dedicated to excellence and

25 committed to nurturing passionate lifelong

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1 learners

2 It also says that The school will meet the

3 high standards of student achievement by

4 supporting positive academic outcomes for students

5 by addressing the academic social economical -shy

6 Im sorry -- emotional and behavioral needs of

7 enrolled students And it says that High

8 standards will be evident which will offer parents

9 and guardians of students currently attending the

10 elementary and charter schools of Duval County the

11 flexibility to choose the school

12 So our view is that if you actually look at

13 the application there is a specific mission its

14 very clear and in fact weve met the standard

15 Just as an aside there was a reference to a

16 private school cant be a charter school

17 Dr Myers started the private school on donations

18 alone in the interim because he wanted to try to

19 start offering education to the average students

20 as quickly as possible He consulted with the DOE

21 and was told that in fact he could open up the

22 school and that if the charter is granted he

23 could transition from the private school into the

24 charter model so there isnt any prohibition

25 against how hes doing it

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1 But our view is if you look at the

2 application there is a clear mission its

3 outlined there and it did meet the standard So

4 thank you

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

6 District

7 DR MYERS Can I

8 CHAIRMAN CHU You have about 30 seconds

9 DR MYERS Thank you I contacted the

10 Department of Education and they expressed to me

11 that I have to close the school and once I close

12 the school every child has to apply So that was

13 done prior to opening up the private school

14 As they stated theres nowhere in that

15 application where it states (inaudible) So all

16 of these things are preposterous in what theyre

17 saying and its just things that theyre trying

18 to elaborate to make the application look bad

19 As I expressed to you Board members this

20 application was approved similar last year It

21 was the exact application So everything that

22 shes coming up with and all three of them does

23 not make sense it does not It does not weigh

24 this application God knows it does not And

25 they cannot give you sufficient reasons why

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1 Thats why they come in with all of these

2 fictitious false allegations against this

3 application Thats all theyre doing They

4 approved this application last year they did

5 And thats all Im asking for

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right District

7 MR McDUFFIE Just briefly and I will turn

8 the mic over to Ms Bowen

9 This is the second time youve heard that

10 there was a mirror application from last year I

11 would like to ask the Commission to go to Page 39

12 of the application There is a specific provision

13 in the application which says if the school

14 intends to replicate an existing school design

15 you are supposed to notify the district under E

16 and F in that section

17 In their application that section is blank

18 okay So they are replicating an existing school

19 design they did not notify us of that in the

20 application

21 And secondly that also takes away the

22 innovative factor of the school If theyre

23 replicating an existing school what is innovative

24 about their charter school

25 Just briefly again with respect to that

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1 private school the application is in the name of

2 Stephen Biko Private Charter School so it is a

3 private school that is making the application

4 MS BOWEN I would just like to add that if

5 there was an application that was approved last

6 year within the past five years we would be glad

7 to go back and look if theres a name thats

8 submitted for us to do reference But when we

9 looked through all of our prior applications we

10 could find no areas where there was similar an

11 exact model of an approved application that had

12 already been approved by the district

13 But to respond to point one as far as the

14 guiding principle section the mission statement

15 was general it was vague and it did not describe

16 meaningful or measurable priority It

17 inefficiently defines the values of the school and

18 was inconsistent with the appellants subsequent

19 educational program plan The question of the

20 guidance embedded within question one clearly says

21 that it should explain what the school intends to

22 do for whom and to what degree And I failed to

23 be able to fully answer all of those questions by

24 reading the statement

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Were going to have a QampA

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1 session so what were going to do now is let me

2 ask the Commission members do you have any

3 questions

4 MS BRUBAKER I would like to hear how

5 you -shy

6 DR MYERS Me

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes Dr Myers How you plan

8 on taking those low performing students to be able

9 to do dual enrollment or AP classes

10 DR MYERS Well first of all as those

11 students arrive in the school various testing

12 will be done on those students TABE testing also

13 WRAT4 testing and various things We would look

14 at the matrix of where the kid came from

15 We have a child now that came to us Georgia

16 from one of the schools in Georgia where he was

17 functioning at a lower level The WRAT4 which is

18 designed to motivate the child and test the child

19 TABE test then we get a matrix from that and we

20 set a curriculum for -- excuse me -- we set the

21 curriculum for the child give the child

22 appropriate courses that the child has already

23 taken or retake again

24 So we move the child in small groups which

25 would be one-on-one learning or it could be group

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1 learning activities The chairs in the classroom

2 are set up and a table where one to one and one to

3 one where the child can model the other child and

4 move forward

5 The APEX curriculum which is used in Duval

6 County Public Schools they just finished using

7 the APEX curriculum in one of their failing

8 schools which moved -- increased the grade two

9 grades -- I think one or two grades at Andrew

10 Jackson High School They have the APEX They

11 have several schools in Duval County thats using

12 the APEX curriculum So its a Florida curriculum

13 that is being used

14 As they expressed the application -- when I

15 looked at the application since I was using the

16 APEX curriculum I said okay why not modify this

17 and put it back into context where its being

18 used So what were doing is we just wrote the

19 application in regards to what they wanted They

20 wanted APEX We put the APEX in there Its a

21 proven fact that its successful in their public

22 schools

23 MS ALEXANDER Can you answer her questions

24 I think which is how you are going to move the low

25 learners up to eventually taking the AP test

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1 DR MYERS Right Im sorry I know I only

2 have a few more minutes or a few seconds But

3 eventually as they progress in each area in math

4 science social studies then we test again So

5 we test at the beginning test at the end

6 And as they -- at the midterm level it tells

7 us whether or not theyre going to be remediated

8 in the course or move forward As they move

9 forward we get the curriculum more rigorous again

10 for them and the next course which is in line so

11 basically one on one and group learning is

12 efficient for them Theyre going to have to take

13 the same courses but if theyre testing at lower

14 levels thats where the individualized

15 instruction will help them

16 Did I answer it

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

18 respond to that

19 MR McDUFFIE Ms Bowen would like to

20 respond But I just want to make it also clear

21 that that -- what was just explained verbally is

22 not in the application

23 MS BOWEN The APEX curriculum is about a

24 curriculum for a set population of students as

25 well as the TABE Assessment they test and measure

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1 students basic skills The expectation under the

2 Common Core the FCAT 20 far exceeds that

3 curriculum And yes we have used it with some

4 of our most lowest performing students and Andrew

5 Jackson did make some gains but they still have

6 19 percent of their students are reading

7 proficiently

8 So my concern is with that curriculum I know

9 that there is something that you needed to have a

10 better indication that was going to provide the

11 teacher with a clear pathway of how to meet those

12 gaps By giving me an assessment thats only

13 measuring my minimum skills it does not

14 demonstrate the expectation of the Lexile level

15 thats required for a college entrance And on

16 Page 39 of his application it clearly states for

17 students who are interested in pre-med coursework

18 The expectation for reading cannot be

19 provided with the diagnosis information that you

20 get with a TABE Assessment or an APEX curriculum

21 Page 10 -- Im sorry I said Page 39 its stuck

22 in my head for some reason -- but on Page 10 it

23 talks about pre-med students and the other

24 innovative -- because thats what hes saying

25 its one of the innovative factors of this

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1 program

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you Are there other

3 questions from the Commission members

4 MS BRADLEY I have a question

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Verdya

6 MS BRADLEY My question is for the school

7 the applicant Is this a solely online program

8 DR MYERS No maam Its basically online

9 and direct instruction

10 MS BRADLEY Do you discuss direct

11 instruction in here

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY The reason that I ask that

14 question is the questions in the application asks

15 specifically for a description of the curriculum

16 a description of the reading program And in your

17 responses your responses pretty much tie back to

18 the APEX curriculum so it appears that it is

19 solely reliant on And then all of the

20 documentation that you gave was from the APEX

21 program So I was just wondering is it just

22 solely online

23 DR MYERS The majority of it but theres a

24 piece where the direct instruction is in place

25 with the child because the children are culled

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1 out for the particular course learning for the

2 subject area that theyre doing The regular

3 curriculum comes in -- the APEX Lexile learning

4 comes in Everything is designed where its

5 implemented on the laptop for the child If the

6 child needs direct instruction the child is

7 culled out into an environment where he or she

8 receives the one-on-one instruction

9 MS BRADLEY Did you discuss that in here

10 DR MYERS Im pretty sure I did

11 MS ALEXANDER What page are you looking at

12 for these

13 MS BRADLEY Well it kind of goes back and

14 forth It starts on Page 16 where it starts

15 talking about the educational program and then it

16 gives me probably about 20 30 pages on APEX and

17 then it goes into the reading curriculum But Im

18 not seeing anywhere where theres any supplement

19 to that

20 Because even the question on Page 16 was

21 Describe the proposed reading or educational

22 program it sort of goes through elements of the

23 APEX program Then on Page 68 it says Describe

24 the reading curriculum

25 DR MYERS Yes maam If you look at

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1 the -shy

2 MS HITCHCOCK Stand up please

3 DR MYERS Im sorry

4 CHAIRMAN CHU If you could come to the mic

5 that would be very helpful because our court

6 reporter is trying to get it all down

7 DR MYERS Im sorry The bullet there

8 says Direct instruction individual and small

9 group instruction led by highly-qualified

10 teachers

11 MS ESPOSITO Say the page

12 MS BRADLEY Thats on Page 16 But its

13 just part of the -- its sort of an isolated

14 bullet but it doesnt explain it any further than

15 that You know it doesnt tell me that there is

16 going to be a pull-out portion

17 DR MYERS Right But as I stated I just

18 put a little piece in there because thats just a

19 little piece of the curriculum and thats why I

20 just mentioned a little piece of it there The

21 majority of it is an online based curriculum

22 MS HODGENS I have a question for the

23 school

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

25 MS HODGENS I am confused on the targeted

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1 population Im trying to get it on the motion

2 sheet so Im going to go to targeted population

3 first And I am a little confused on it because I

4 can read what you say on Page 12 And on Page 12

5 you talk about being open to all students and

6 then you talk about low-performing students and

7 then you go back to all students

8 And then when I go to Page 41 the curriculum

9 design you talk about students needing credit

10 recovery And then I continue on and I see AP

11 courses honor courses And again I dont want

12 to allude that I dont believe that kids can do

13 those courses but I want to understand what

14 population youre really looking at

15 DR MYERS Were looking at all students

16 within that demographic And within the

17 demographics it is a lower level You have lower

18 level one level two basically they are coming

19 from the downtown sector area within that 5-mile

20 radius area of the downtown

21 So when I say all students because a

22 charter school cannot deny a student from applying

23 or coming in all students are accepted if they

24 can meet transportation needs to come to school

25 So as I expressed to you thats what

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1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

Page 17: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

17

1 has the fundraising capacity to be able to

2 generate enough private capital to get this kicked

3 off And the City of Jacksonville has an historic

4 loan fund that we have the ability to be able to

5 get some money from to finish the product And we

6 think its going to be a success

7 Downtown Jacksonville is going through its

8 own renaissance We have people moving downtown

9 and were bringing more retail downtown and our

10 Mayor is focused on rebuilding downtown So we

11 believe that we have an opportunity to be

12 successful

13 I chose to volunteer to be on Gregs Board

14 because I believe in him And we have been

15 working to get other prominent people in the

16 community on this Board so that we can make a

17 difference Thats what this is all about

18 As an economic development professional with

19 the City of Jacksonville for the last 30 years

20 Ive been involved in a lot of projects 156

21 projects since 2001 and weve generated private

22 capital investments of $14 million and weve

23 created 15000 jobs So the group that Im

24 working with we believe that this is achievable

25 But the first step is to get site control we

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1 have that Now the next step is we get the

2 charter then we have the ability to be able to

3 raise the funds you know to put this project

4 together Ill be happy to answer any questions

5 you may have

6 MS ALEXANDER Given that the school has

7 already opened and is successfully educating

8 students we believe that there wasnt good cause

9 in fact to deny the application and we will be

10 happy to answer any questions with respect to the

11 specific categories I just didnt want to go

12 through them twice given that its late in the

13 day So I just wanted to give you a background

14 thats where we are And we respectfully request

15 that you grant our appeal and thank you very

16 much

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

18 Representatives for the district

19 MR McDUFFIE Thank you members of the

20 Commission Again my name is Brian McDuffie

21 Im Executive Director for Policy and Compliance

22 with Duval County Public Schools

23 With me to my left is Ms Jackie Bowen

24 Executive Director for Academic Services

25 Ms Angela Heiney who is Coordinator of Financial

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1 Reporting We also have Karen Chastain who is

2 Chief Legal Officer for the district as well as

3 Shanita Roper and Anita Henry-Smith who are from

4 our charter schools office

5 The first thing that I want to touch upon is

6 the charter school climate in Duval County We

7 approved 13 out of 15 applications that went to

8 the Board during this last cycle We currently

9 have 21 charter schools operating in Duval County

10 And I think if every application or every

11 applicant that had good intentions had their

12 charter school approved there would be an

13 overwhelming number of charter schools It is not

14 necessarily about worthwhile intentions

15 And there has never been any question on our

16 part about the integrity of the people trying to

17 start this charter school none whatsoever They

18 appear to be good people with good intentions It

19 is not about that It is also not about

20 redeveloping downtown Jacksonville It is about

21 the children

22 And thats what we have been given the task

23 of doing as a sponsor to look and make sure that

24 when these applications come in that the children

25 are protected

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1 What Im going to do today is basically

2 provide the Commission with a slight overview with

3 respect to Issue 2 Ms Heiney will talk with

4 respect to Issue 3 And Ms Bowen will talk with

5 respect to Issue 1 just as an overview

6 So moving to Issue 2 governance the first

7 thing -- again keep within the time

8 constraints -- as a highlight the applicant is a

9 private school That in and on its face is a

10 reason for denial If you look at Florida

11 Statutes 100233(3)(b) a private school cannot be

12 a charter school

13 Moving on to management With respect to the

14 management section we were provided with

15 essentially a lot of vague information They

16 failed to give the management structure job

17 descriptions for teachers the administrative

18 positions They failed to give criteria as to how

19 they were going to select teachers And they also

20 failed to describe how they were going to monitor

21 teacher certification as well as how to fill

22 status

23 Based on these measures with respect to

24 Issue 2 under governance and management we feel

25 that the School Board had competent substantial

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1 evidence and good cause to deny the application

2 And next to speak will be Ms Jackie Bowen

3 MS BOWEN Good afternoon Im Jacqueline

4 Bowen the Academic Services Executive Director

5 I do appreciate the applicants passion for

6 students thats why Im here But I would also

7 like to reiterate as our counsel has said that I

8 am not a historical resident of Jacksonville And

9 as we review applications I have no knowledge of

10 many of the historical factors or the political

11 things that are behind it having only been in the

12 city for 12 years My goal and every analysis or

13 review of the complete instructional plan is that

14 it benefit children

15 So in reviewing the actual application there

16 were great deficiencies in the areas of the

17 guiding principles the targeted population was

18 very unclear the education program design the

19 curriculum plan the student performance

20 assessments evaluation the actual educational

21 supporting plan for the ESE population as well as

22 ELL students

23 So for example within this application

24 its supposed to provide any reader or reviewer a

25 very clear picture of what a student will need to

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1 do and what they will experience as they are

2 attending that institution meaning that I should

3 have an understanding of the applicant And the

4 applicant was real clear that he wanted to

5 provide the whole child and provide that

6 experience

7 But it didnt give me a clear understanding

8 or the reviewers upon my team about the

9 structure how the things that were identified

10 were truly going to support and guide teachers

11 decisions to make sure theyre meeting the

12 standards of the NGSS and the Common Core and

13 ultimately graduating

14 The application was indistinguishable between

15 the targeted population because at one point it

16 talked about at-risk students from a particular

17 5-mile geographic dynamics and then it said all

18 students no matter what according to the

19 standard of expectation

20 The applicant briefly described a pre-med

21 program a dual enrollment advanced placement

22 classes And the appeal reiterated the error by

23 describing instructional programs and learning

24 strategies but they failed to provide a clear

25 picture as to how you were going to take

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1 struggling students or any student to that

2 advanced and rigorous curriculum

3 And as we can say that the standard requires

4 the application to explain not only what the

5 school is going to teach but how they were going

6 to teach it I was continually searching which

7 Im not required to do throughout the entire

8 application to see how was this instruction going

9 to be -- what is that child going to experience on

10 a daily basis And it was very unclear

11 Statute 100233 also states that the charter

12 application must have a detailed curriculum plan

13 a curriculum plan not a curriculum resource a

14 plan for instruction that illustrates how those

15 students are going to be provided services to meet

16 those graduation requirements We are in the

17 business of graduating students

18 So the application also didnt provide a very

19 clear reading curriculum They referenced the

20 Just Read Florida Website which Im very happy

21 that they were there supporting but it is a

22 resource document it does not outline a

23 curriculum plan And unfortunately -- and Im

24 saying this in this building -- it really only

25 sports primary education When you get towards

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1 secondary the resources become very limited And

2 I know theyre working on that

3 So the statute requires that we deny the

4 application on the fact that the reading

5 curriculum plan was not sufficient at all

6 Another key issue that was concerning which

7 led to a good cause denial of the application was

8 that a risk of students not being prepared for the

9 FCAT Because they identified assessments which

10 Im very familiar with failed to have the

11 measuring tools that would guide teacher

12 instruction in being able to support deficiencies

13 or make accommodations or get those students ready

14 for that you know accelerated dual enrollment

15 advanced AP or pre-med curriculum

16 Im going to wrap it up because I know

17 everybody is ready to go When we talk about our

18 ELL students and we are doing a lot within our

19 districts to better support all students there

20 was really -- I struggled with finding out how the

21 students were going to enter our school And an

22 ELL student is just one designation because you

23 can have an ELL student that also has an ESE

24 designation and has some little deficiencies in

25 particular other areas

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1 There was no -- they failed to demonstrate

2 how they were going to make choices of selecting

3 the appropriate materials to meet the needs of all

4 students

5 To say we will select resources but there

6 was no clear indication of how those decisions

7 would be made The assessments didnt provide

8 that detailed information to guide that choice so

9 upon that there was no reason but to have a good

10 cause for denial

11 MS HEINEY Good afternoon My name is

12 Angela Heiney H-e-i-n-e-y and I reviewed the

13 business plan for the applicant As an overview

14 the entire business plan did not meet the standard

15 with the exception of the transportation which

16 only partially met the standard

17 There were quite a few reasons that we found

18 for this The biggest -- there were statutory

19 failures all over the place 100233(6)(a)5

20 states that there has to be an annual financial

21 plan based on projected revenues and expenditures

22 What we found is that the revenues and

23 expenditures provided were unsubstantiated

24 unsupported and there was missing money all over

25 the place For example on Page 107 the

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1 applicant states theyre going to take out

2 $500000 in loans to fund their startup however

3 if you look at their five-year business plan

4 there is no repayment for those loans And they

5 provided absolutely no correspondence from any

6 lending institution that says theyre willing to

7 give half a million dollars and not expect a penny

8 back for over five years In this current

9 economic climate that rarely if ever happens

10 Ive never seen it

11 The application and the denial or the

12 response to the denial that was filed -- the

13 notice of appeal -- there were several points that

14 were made in our denial however they never even

15 discussed those

16 For example the application specifically

17 states that they plan on contracting out HR and

18 accounting services however they dont know how

19 much it is so they didnt even include that in

20 their budget For some of our schools that is

21 thousands and thousands of dollars a year just

22 missing

23 Theres inconsistencies Mr Whitaker just

24 stated that the City of Jacksonville has not

25 promised the money However Page 104 states that

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1 they have a verbal commitment There is no

2 evidence of any commitment no letters from former

3 Mayor Delaney no letters from current Mayor

4 Browns office anybody even suggesting that they

5 know who this school is and that theyre willing

6 to support it

7 A second statutory failing occurs again in

8 (6)(a)5 where it states that the application must

9 have a description of controls that safeguard

10 financing

11 During the general help session the

12 applicants were told they must give detailed

13 procedures on certain areas Why Because these

14 are the areas that consistently have fraud

15 errors thefts mistakes We dont like to

16 believe that will happen at schools but frankly

17 bad things do happen

18 They were told you must have accounts

19 payables accounts receivables cash management

20 payroll those areas Why This is where weve

21 seen problems happen There was nothing There

22 was some general policy given on Pages 113 and 14

23 And they state on Page 113 there will be

24 implementation of many internal financial

25 controls however that is not a description of

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1 controls which is what is mandated by the

2 statute

3 Another failing occurs on Statute 21839

4 This statute mandates the use of an independent

5 certified public account for performing annual

6 financial reporting so the audited financial

7 statements which are required

8 In Attachment 7 it states that the same

9 person providing accounting services will also

10 perform the auditing services According to the

11 American Institute of CPAs this is actually a

12 violation of independence and an ethics violation

13 itself So anybody who is willing to do both is

14 not by statute an independent auditor And they

15 have stated in their application thats what

16 theyre going to do

17 When you see one statutory violation that is

18 certainly competent and substantial evidence for

19 denial When you see at least three just in one

20 section now were getting overwhelming grounds

21 for denial

22 But we also saw areas in the facilities where

23 they simply state that they will meet statute

24 Saying youre going to meet statute is not the

25 same as explaining what youre going to do

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1 Theyre stating in their financials that theyre

2 going to have $3 million worth of renovations

3 What on earth are you going to do for $3 million

4 Mr Whitaker stated that the building is just

5 a shell However the application states that it

6 is currently being in use by a daycare for the

7 Urban League So whats going on Theres no

8 consistency between whats being said whats

9 being done in the application

10 In that stance we do not make assumptions

11 We must go with what is written So any verbal

12 statements we cant justify that because all we

13 can hold the applicant to is what has been written

14 in that document

15 We have a problem with food service They

16 state that theyre not going to use NSLP and

17 theyre going to contract a vendor which is

18 perfectly acceptable except their target

19 population is going to be children that are at

20 risk Specifically this is a very high population

21 of children who will qualify for free and reduced

22 lunch What about the kids that cant pay for

23 their food what are they going to do all day in

24 class We cant starve children thats wrong

25 Theres no money in the budget for -shy

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

2 MS HEINEY Im sorry

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

4 MS HEINEY Theres no money in the budget

5 for food so theres no money theres no plan

6 And this is an area that has direct effect on

7 health and well-being of the children

8 The action plan that they gave is completely

9 unrealistic and does not meet up against their

10 academic standards For example they state that

11 theyre going to use Achieve 3000 Achieve 3000

12 is a difficult product to use It does require

13 training

14 And the startup budget and the statement of

15 cash flow is there is no money whatsoever for

16 teacher training So are these teachers supposed

17 to walk in on their first day knowing how to use

18 it The action plan says theres going to be

19 training but theres no money for it so how are

20 you going do it As I said theres quite a bit

21 of reasons And if you have any questions we

22 would be more than happy to respond

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay This takes us to

24 Issue 1 whether the applicant failed to comply

25 with the educational plan regarding guiding

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1 principles target population educational program

2 design curriculum plan student performance

3 assessment and evaluation exceptional students

4 and English language learners

5 So the school if you want to have a couple

6 of minutes to speak directly to the educational

7 plan and then well give the district the same

8 amount of time

9 MS ALEXANDER Sure With respect to the

10 mission statement we believe that the denial was

11 not supported by competent substantial evidence in

12 any way For example the School Board alleges

13 that we didnt provide an adequate mission

14 statement or describe how the school utilizes

15 guiding principles

16 As you can kind of get the sense from hearing

17 Dr Myers hes got a pretty sophisticated sense

18 of mission And with respect to the mission

19 statement the application specifically says on

20 Page 4 The mission statement of the charter high

21 school is to provide an exemplary personalized

22 learning program in a supportive resource rich

23 contemporary learning environment Stephen Biko

24 Charter High School is dedicated to excellence and

25 committed to nurturing passionate lifelong

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1 learners

2 It also says that The school will meet the

3 high standards of student achievement by

4 supporting positive academic outcomes for students

5 by addressing the academic social economical -shy

6 Im sorry -- emotional and behavioral needs of

7 enrolled students And it says that High

8 standards will be evident which will offer parents

9 and guardians of students currently attending the

10 elementary and charter schools of Duval County the

11 flexibility to choose the school

12 So our view is that if you actually look at

13 the application there is a specific mission its

14 very clear and in fact weve met the standard

15 Just as an aside there was a reference to a

16 private school cant be a charter school

17 Dr Myers started the private school on donations

18 alone in the interim because he wanted to try to

19 start offering education to the average students

20 as quickly as possible He consulted with the DOE

21 and was told that in fact he could open up the

22 school and that if the charter is granted he

23 could transition from the private school into the

24 charter model so there isnt any prohibition

25 against how hes doing it

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1 But our view is if you look at the

2 application there is a clear mission its

3 outlined there and it did meet the standard So

4 thank you

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

6 District

7 DR MYERS Can I

8 CHAIRMAN CHU You have about 30 seconds

9 DR MYERS Thank you I contacted the

10 Department of Education and they expressed to me

11 that I have to close the school and once I close

12 the school every child has to apply So that was

13 done prior to opening up the private school

14 As they stated theres nowhere in that

15 application where it states (inaudible) So all

16 of these things are preposterous in what theyre

17 saying and its just things that theyre trying

18 to elaborate to make the application look bad

19 As I expressed to you Board members this

20 application was approved similar last year It

21 was the exact application So everything that

22 shes coming up with and all three of them does

23 not make sense it does not It does not weigh

24 this application God knows it does not And

25 they cannot give you sufficient reasons why

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1 Thats why they come in with all of these

2 fictitious false allegations against this

3 application Thats all theyre doing They

4 approved this application last year they did

5 And thats all Im asking for

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right District

7 MR McDUFFIE Just briefly and I will turn

8 the mic over to Ms Bowen

9 This is the second time youve heard that

10 there was a mirror application from last year I

11 would like to ask the Commission to go to Page 39

12 of the application There is a specific provision

13 in the application which says if the school

14 intends to replicate an existing school design

15 you are supposed to notify the district under E

16 and F in that section

17 In their application that section is blank

18 okay So they are replicating an existing school

19 design they did not notify us of that in the

20 application

21 And secondly that also takes away the

22 innovative factor of the school If theyre

23 replicating an existing school what is innovative

24 about their charter school

25 Just briefly again with respect to that

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1 private school the application is in the name of

2 Stephen Biko Private Charter School so it is a

3 private school that is making the application

4 MS BOWEN I would just like to add that if

5 there was an application that was approved last

6 year within the past five years we would be glad

7 to go back and look if theres a name thats

8 submitted for us to do reference But when we

9 looked through all of our prior applications we

10 could find no areas where there was similar an

11 exact model of an approved application that had

12 already been approved by the district

13 But to respond to point one as far as the

14 guiding principle section the mission statement

15 was general it was vague and it did not describe

16 meaningful or measurable priority It

17 inefficiently defines the values of the school and

18 was inconsistent with the appellants subsequent

19 educational program plan The question of the

20 guidance embedded within question one clearly says

21 that it should explain what the school intends to

22 do for whom and to what degree And I failed to

23 be able to fully answer all of those questions by

24 reading the statement

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Were going to have a QampA

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1 session so what were going to do now is let me

2 ask the Commission members do you have any

3 questions

4 MS BRUBAKER I would like to hear how

5 you -shy

6 DR MYERS Me

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes Dr Myers How you plan

8 on taking those low performing students to be able

9 to do dual enrollment or AP classes

10 DR MYERS Well first of all as those

11 students arrive in the school various testing

12 will be done on those students TABE testing also

13 WRAT4 testing and various things We would look

14 at the matrix of where the kid came from

15 We have a child now that came to us Georgia

16 from one of the schools in Georgia where he was

17 functioning at a lower level The WRAT4 which is

18 designed to motivate the child and test the child

19 TABE test then we get a matrix from that and we

20 set a curriculum for -- excuse me -- we set the

21 curriculum for the child give the child

22 appropriate courses that the child has already

23 taken or retake again

24 So we move the child in small groups which

25 would be one-on-one learning or it could be group

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1 learning activities The chairs in the classroom

2 are set up and a table where one to one and one to

3 one where the child can model the other child and

4 move forward

5 The APEX curriculum which is used in Duval

6 County Public Schools they just finished using

7 the APEX curriculum in one of their failing

8 schools which moved -- increased the grade two

9 grades -- I think one or two grades at Andrew

10 Jackson High School They have the APEX They

11 have several schools in Duval County thats using

12 the APEX curriculum So its a Florida curriculum

13 that is being used

14 As they expressed the application -- when I

15 looked at the application since I was using the

16 APEX curriculum I said okay why not modify this

17 and put it back into context where its being

18 used So what were doing is we just wrote the

19 application in regards to what they wanted They

20 wanted APEX We put the APEX in there Its a

21 proven fact that its successful in their public

22 schools

23 MS ALEXANDER Can you answer her questions

24 I think which is how you are going to move the low

25 learners up to eventually taking the AP test

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1 DR MYERS Right Im sorry I know I only

2 have a few more minutes or a few seconds But

3 eventually as they progress in each area in math

4 science social studies then we test again So

5 we test at the beginning test at the end

6 And as they -- at the midterm level it tells

7 us whether or not theyre going to be remediated

8 in the course or move forward As they move

9 forward we get the curriculum more rigorous again

10 for them and the next course which is in line so

11 basically one on one and group learning is

12 efficient for them Theyre going to have to take

13 the same courses but if theyre testing at lower

14 levels thats where the individualized

15 instruction will help them

16 Did I answer it

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

18 respond to that

19 MR McDUFFIE Ms Bowen would like to

20 respond But I just want to make it also clear

21 that that -- what was just explained verbally is

22 not in the application

23 MS BOWEN The APEX curriculum is about a

24 curriculum for a set population of students as

25 well as the TABE Assessment they test and measure

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1 students basic skills The expectation under the

2 Common Core the FCAT 20 far exceeds that

3 curriculum And yes we have used it with some

4 of our most lowest performing students and Andrew

5 Jackson did make some gains but they still have

6 19 percent of their students are reading

7 proficiently

8 So my concern is with that curriculum I know

9 that there is something that you needed to have a

10 better indication that was going to provide the

11 teacher with a clear pathway of how to meet those

12 gaps By giving me an assessment thats only

13 measuring my minimum skills it does not

14 demonstrate the expectation of the Lexile level

15 thats required for a college entrance And on

16 Page 39 of his application it clearly states for

17 students who are interested in pre-med coursework

18 The expectation for reading cannot be

19 provided with the diagnosis information that you

20 get with a TABE Assessment or an APEX curriculum

21 Page 10 -- Im sorry I said Page 39 its stuck

22 in my head for some reason -- but on Page 10 it

23 talks about pre-med students and the other

24 innovative -- because thats what hes saying

25 its one of the innovative factors of this

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1 program

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you Are there other

3 questions from the Commission members

4 MS BRADLEY I have a question

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Verdya

6 MS BRADLEY My question is for the school

7 the applicant Is this a solely online program

8 DR MYERS No maam Its basically online

9 and direct instruction

10 MS BRADLEY Do you discuss direct

11 instruction in here

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY The reason that I ask that

14 question is the questions in the application asks

15 specifically for a description of the curriculum

16 a description of the reading program And in your

17 responses your responses pretty much tie back to

18 the APEX curriculum so it appears that it is

19 solely reliant on And then all of the

20 documentation that you gave was from the APEX

21 program So I was just wondering is it just

22 solely online

23 DR MYERS The majority of it but theres a

24 piece where the direct instruction is in place

25 with the child because the children are culled

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1 out for the particular course learning for the

2 subject area that theyre doing The regular

3 curriculum comes in -- the APEX Lexile learning

4 comes in Everything is designed where its

5 implemented on the laptop for the child If the

6 child needs direct instruction the child is

7 culled out into an environment where he or she

8 receives the one-on-one instruction

9 MS BRADLEY Did you discuss that in here

10 DR MYERS Im pretty sure I did

11 MS ALEXANDER What page are you looking at

12 for these

13 MS BRADLEY Well it kind of goes back and

14 forth It starts on Page 16 where it starts

15 talking about the educational program and then it

16 gives me probably about 20 30 pages on APEX and

17 then it goes into the reading curriculum But Im

18 not seeing anywhere where theres any supplement

19 to that

20 Because even the question on Page 16 was

21 Describe the proposed reading or educational

22 program it sort of goes through elements of the

23 APEX program Then on Page 68 it says Describe

24 the reading curriculum

25 DR MYERS Yes maam If you look at

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1 the -shy

2 MS HITCHCOCK Stand up please

3 DR MYERS Im sorry

4 CHAIRMAN CHU If you could come to the mic

5 that would be very helpful because our court

6 reporter is trying to get it all down

7 DR MYERS Im sorry The bullet there

8 says Direct instruction individual and small

9 group instruction led by highly-qualified

10 teachers

11 MS ESPOSITO Say the page

12 MS BRADLEY Thats on Page 16 But its

13 just part of the -- its sort of an isolated

14 bullet but it doesnt explain it any further than

15 that You know it doesnt tell me that there is

16 going to be a pull-out portion

17 DR MYERS Right But as I stated I just

18 put a little piece in there because thats just a

19 little piece of the curriculum and thats why I

20 just mentioned a little piece of it there The

21 majority of it is an online based curriculum

22 MS HODGENS I have a question for the

23 school

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

25 MS HODGENS I am confused on the targeted

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1 population Im trying to get it on the motion

2 sheet so Im going to go to targeted population

3 first And I am a little confused on it because I

4 can read what you say on Page 12 And on Page 12

5 you talk about being open to all students and

6 then you talk about low-performing students and

7 then you go back to all students

8 And then when I go to Page 41 the curriculum

9 design you talk about students needing credit

10 recovery And then I continue on and I see AP

11 courses honor courses And again I dont want

12 to allude that I dont believe that kids can do

13 those courses but I want to understand what

14 population youre really looking at

15 DR MYERS Were looking at all students

16 within that demographic And within the

17 demographics it is a lower level You have lower

18 level one level two basically they are coming

19 from the downtown sector area within that 5-mile

20 radius area of the downtown

21 So when I say all students because a

22 charter school cannot deny a student from applying

23 or coming in all students are accepted if they

24 can meet transportation needs to come to school

25 So as I expressed to you thats what

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1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

Page 18: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

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1 have that Now the next step is we get the

2 charter then we have the ability to be able to

3 raise the funds you know to put this project

4 together Ill be happy to answer any questions

5 you may have

6 MS ALEXANDER Given that the school has

7 already opened and is successfully educating

8 students we believe that there wasnt good cause

9 in fact to deny the application and we will be

10 happy to answer any questions with respect to the

11 specific categories I just didnt want to go

12 through them twice given that its late in the

13 day So I just wanted to give you a background

14 thats where we are And we respectfully request

15 that you grant our appeal and thank you very

16 much

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

18 Representatives for the district

19 MR McDUFFIE Thank you members of the

20 Commission Again my name is Brian McDuffie

21 Im Executive Director for Policy and Compliance

22 with Duval County Public Schools

23 With me to my left is Ms Jackie Bowen

24 Executive Director for Academic Services

25 Ms Angela Heiney who is Coordinator of Financial

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1 Reporting We also have Karen Chastain who is

2 Chief Legal Officer for the district as well as

3 Shanita Roper and Anita Henry-Smith who are from

4 our charter schools office

5 The first thing that I want to touch upon is

6 the charter school climate in Duval County We

7 approved 13 out of 15 applications that went to

8 the Board during this last cycle We currently

9 have 21 charter schools operating in Duval County

10 And I think if every application or every

11 applicant that had good intentions had their

12 charter school approved there would be an

13 overwhelming number of charter schools It is not

14 necessarily about worthwhile intentions

15 And there has never been any question on our

16 part about the integrity of the people trying to

17 start this charter school none whatsoever They

18 appear to be good people with good intentions It

19 is not about that It is also not about

20 redeveloping downtown Jacksonville It is about

21 the children

22 And thats what we have been given the task

23 of doing as a sponsor to look and make sure that

24 when these applications come in that the children

25 are protected

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1 What Im going to do today is basically

2 provide the Commission with a slight overview with

3 respect to Issue 2 Ms Heiney will talk with

4 respect to Issue 3 And Ms Bowen will talk with

5 respect to Issue 1 just as an overview

6 So moving to Issue 2 governance the first

7 thing -- again keep within the time

8 constraints -- as a highlight the applicant is a

9 private school That in and on its face is a

10 reason for denial If you look at Florida

11 Statutes 100233(3)(b) a private school cannot be

12 a charter school

13 Moving on to management With respect to the

14 management section we were provided with

15 essentially a lot of vague information They

16 failed to give the management structure job

17 descriptions for teachers the administrative

18 positions They failed to give criteria as to how

19 they were going to select teachers And they also

20 failed to describe how they were going to monitor

21 teacher certification as well as how to fill

22 status

23 Based on these measures with respect to

24 Issue 2 under governance and management we feel

25 that the School Board had competent substantial

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1 evidence and good cause to deny the application

2 And next to speak will be Ms Jackie Bowen

3 MS BOWEN Good afternoon Im Jacqueline

4 Bowen the Academic Services Executive Director

5 I do appreciate the applicants passion for

6 students thats why Im here But I would also

7 like to reiterate as our counsel has said that I

8 am not a historical resident of Jacksonville And

9 as we review applications I have no knowledge of

10 many of the historical factors or the political

11 things that are behind it having only been in the

12 city for 12 years My goal and every analysis or

13 review of the complete instructional plan is that

14 it benefit children

15 So in reviewing the actual application there

16 were great deficiencies in the areas of the

17 guiding principles the targeted population was

18 very unclear the education program design the

19 curriculum plan the student performance

20 assessments evaluation the actual educational

21 supporting plan for the ESE population as well as

22 ELL students

23 So for example within this application

24 its supposed to provide any reader or reviewer a

25 very clear picture of what a student will need to

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1 do and what they will experience as they are

2 attending that institution meaning that I should

3 have an understanding of the applicant And the

4 applicant was real clear that he wanted to

5 provide the whole child and provide that

6 experience

7 But it didnt give me a clear understanding

8 or the reviewers upon my team about the

9 structure how the things that were identified

10 were truly going to support and guide teachers

11 decisions to make sure theyre meeting the

12 standards of the NGSS and the Common Core and

13 ultimately graduating

14 The application was indistinguishable between

15 the targeted population because at one point it

16 talked about at-risk students from a particular

17 5-mile geographic dynamics and then it said all

18 students no matter what according to the

19 standard of expectation

20 The applicant briefly described a pre-med

21 program a dual enrollment advanced placement

22 classes And the appeal reiterated the error by

23 describing instructional programs and learning

24 strategies but they failed to provide a clear

25 picture as to how you were going to take

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1 struggling students or any student to that

2 advanced and rigorous curriculum

3 And as we can say that the standard requires

4 the application to explain not only what the

5 school is going to teach but how they were going

6 to teach it I was continually searching which

7 Im not required to do throughout the entire

8 application to see how was this instruction going

9 to be -- what is that child going to experience on

10 a daily basis And it was very unclear

11 Statute 100233 also states that the charter

12 application must have a detailed curriculum plan

13 a curriculum plan not a curriculum resource a

14 plan for instruction that illustrates how those

15 students are going to be provided services to meet

16 those graduation requirements We are in the

17 business of graduating students

18 So the application also didnt provide a very

19 clear reading curriculum They referenced the

20 Just Read Florida Website which Im very happy

21 that they were there supporting but it is a

22 resource document it does not outline a

23 curriculum plan And unfortunately -- and Im

24 saying this in this building -- it really only

25 sports primary education When you get towards

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1 secondary the resources become very limited And

2 I know theyre working on that

3 So the statute requires that we deny the

4 application on the fact that the reading

5 curriculum plan was not sufficient at all

6 Another key issue that was concerning which

7 led to a good cause denial of the application was

8 that a risk of students not being prepared for the

9 FCAT Because they identified assessments which

10 Im very familiar with failed to have the

11 measuring tools that would guide teacher

12 instruction in being able to support deficiencies

13 or make accommodations or get those students ready

14 for that you know accelerated dual enrollment

15 advanced AP or pre-med curriculum

16 Im going to wrap it up because I know

17 everybody is ready to go When we talk about our

18 ELL students and we are doing a lot within our

19 districts to better support all students there

20 was really -- I struggled with finding out how the

21 students were going to enter our school And an

22 ELL student is just one designation because you

23 can have an ELL student that also has an ESE

24 designation and has some little deficiencies in

25 particular other areas

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1 There was no -- they failed to demonstrate

2 how they were going to make choices of selecting

3 the appropriate materials to meet the needs of all

4 students

5 To say we will select resources but there

6 was no clear indication of how those decisions

7 would be made The assessments didnt provide

8 that detailed information to guide that choice so

9 upon that there was no reason but to have a good

10 cause for denial

11 MS HEINEY Good afternoon My name is

12 Angela Heiney H-e-i-n-e-y and I reviewed the

13 business plan for the applicant As an overview

14 the entire business plan did not meet the standard

15 with the exception of the transportation which

16 only partially met the standard

17 There were quite a few reasons that we found

18 for this The biggest -- there were statutory

19 failures all over the place 100233(6)(a)5

20 states that there has to be an annual financial

21 plan based on projected revenues and expenditures

22 What we found is that the revenues and

23 expenditures provided were unsubstantiated

24 unsupported and there was missing money all over

25 the place For example on Page 107 the

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1 applicant states theyre going to take out

2 $500000 in loans to fund their startup however

3 if you look at their five-year business plan

4 there is no repayment for those loans And they

5 provided absolutely no correspondence from any

6 lending institution that says theyre willing to

7 give half a million dollars and not expect a penny

8 back for over five years In this current

9 economic climate that rarely if ever happens

10 Ive never seen it

11 The application and the denial or the

12 response to the denial that was filed -- the

13 notice of appeal -- there were several points that

14 were made in our denial however they never even

15 discussed those

16 For example the application specifically

17 states that they plan on contracting out HR and

18 accounting services however they dont know how

19 much it is so they didnt even include that in

20 their budget For some of our schools that is

21 thousands and thousands of dollars a year just

22 missing

23 Theres inconsistencies Mr Whitaker just

24 stated that the City of Jacksonville has not

25 promised the money However Page 104 states that

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1 they have a verbal commitment There is no

2 evidence of any commitment no letters from former

3 Mayor Delaney no letters from current Mayor

4 Browns office anybody even suggesting that they

5 know who this school is and that theyre willing

6 to support it

7 A second statutory failing occurs again in

8 (6)(a)5 where it states that the application must

9 have a description of controls that safeguard

10 financing

11 During the general help session the

12 applicants were told they must give detailed

13 procedures on certain areas Why Because these

14 are the areas that consistently have fraud

15 errors thefts mistakes We dont like to

16 believe that will happen at schools but frankly

17 bad things do happen

18 They were told you must have accounts

19 payables accounts receivables cash management

20 payroll those areas Why This is where weve

21 seen problems happen There was nothing There

22 was some general policy given on Pages 113 and 14

23 And they state on Page 113 there will be

24 implementation of many internal financial

25 controls however that is not a description of

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1 controls which is what is mandated by the

2 statute

3 Another failing occurs on Statute 21839

4 This statute mandates the use of an independent

5 certified public account for performing annual

6 financial reporting so the audited financial

7 statements which are required

8 In Attachment 7 it states that the same

9 person providing accounting services will also

10 perform the auditing services According to the

11 American Institute of CPAs this is actually a

12 violation of independence and an ethics violation

13 itself So anybody who is willing to do both is

14 not by statute an independent auditor And they

15 have stated in their application thats what

16 theyre going to do

17 When you see one statutory violation that is

18 certainly competent and substantial evidence for

19 denial When you see at least three just in one

20 section now were getting overwhelming grounds

21 for denial

22 But we also saw areas in the facilities where

23 they simply state that they will meet statute

24 Saying youre going to meet statute is not the

25 same as explaining what youre going to do

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1 Theyre stating in their financials that theyre

2 going to have $3 million worth of renovations

3 What on earth are you going to do for $3 million

4 Mr Whitaker stated that the building is just

5 a shell However the application states that it

6 is currently being in use by a daycare for the

7 Urban League So whats going on Theres no

8 consistency between whats being said whats

9 being done in the application

10 In that stance we do not make assumptions

11 We must go with what is written So any verbal

12 statements we cant justify that because all we

13 can hold the applicant to is what has been written

14 in that document

15 We have a problem with food service They

16 state that theyre not going to use NSLP and

17 theyre going to contract a vendor which is

18 perfectly acceptable except their target

19 population is going to be children that are at

20 risk Specifically this is a very high population

21 of children who will qualify for free and reduced

22 lunch What about the kids that cant pay for

23 their food what are they going to do all day in

24 class We cant starve children thats wrong

25 Theres no money in the budget for -shy

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

2 MS HEINEY Im sorry

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

4 MS HEINEY Theres no money in the budget

5 for food so theres no money theres no plan

6 And this is an area that has direct effect on

7 health and well-being of the children

8 The action plan that they gave is completely

9 unrealistic and does not meet up against their

10 academic standards For example they state that

11 theyre going to use Achieve 3000 Achieve 3000

12 is a difficult product to use It does require

13 training

14 And the startup budget and the statement of

15 cash flow is there is no money whatsoever for

16 teacher training So are these teachers supposed

17 to walk in on their first day knowing how to use

18 it The action plan says theres going to be

19 training but theres no money for it so how are

20 you going do it As I said theres quite a bit

21 of reasons And if you have any questions we

22 would be more than happy to respond

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay This takes us to

24 Issue 1 whether the applicant failed to comply

25 with the educational plan regarding guiding

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1 principles target population educational program

2 design curriculum plan student performance

3 assessment and evaluation exceptional students

4 and English language learners

5 So the school if you want to have a couple

6 of minutes to speak directly to the educational

7 plan and then well give the district the same

8 amount of time

9 MS ALEXANDER Sure With respect to the

10 mission statement we believe that the denial was

11 not supported by competent substantial evidence in

12 any way For example the School Board alleges

13 that we didnt provide an adequate mission

14 statement or describe how the school utilizes

15 guiding principles

16 As you can kind of get the sense from hearing

17 Dr Myers hes got a pretty sophisticated sense

18 of mission And with respect to the mission

19 statement the application specifically says on

20 Page 4 The mission statement of the charter high

21 school is to provide an exemplary personalized

22 learning program in a supportive resource rich

23 contemporary learning environment Stephen Biko

24 Charter High School is dedicated to excellence and

25 committed to nurturing passionate lifelong

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1 learners

2 It also says that The school will meet the

3 high standards of student achievement by

4 supporting positive academic outcomes for students

5 by addressing the academic social economical -shy

6 Im sorry -- emotional and behavioral needs of

7 enrolled students And it says that High

8 standards will be evident which will offer parents

9 and guardians of students currently attending the

10 elementary and charter schools of Duval County the

11 flexibility to choose the school

12 So our view is that if you actually look at

13 the application there is a specific mission its

14 very clear and in fact weve met the standard

15 Just as an aside there was a reference to a

16 private school cant be a charter school

17 Dr Myers started the private school on donations

18 alone in the interim because he wanted to try to

19 start offering education to the average students

20 as quickly as possible He consulted with the DOE

21 and was told that in fact he could open up the

22 school and that if the charter is granted he

23 could transition from the private school into the

24 charter model so there isnt any prohibition

25 against how hes doing it

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1 But our view is if you look at the

2 application there is a clear mission its

3 outlined there and it did meet the standard So

4 thank you

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

6 District

7 DR MYERS Can I

8 CHAIRMAN CHU You have about 30 seconds

9 DR MYERS Thank you I contacted the

10 Department of Education and they expressed to me

11 that I have to close the school and once I close

12 the school every child has to apply So that was

13 done prior to opening up the private school

14 As they stated theres nowhere in that

15 application where it states (inaudible) So all

16 of these things are preposterous in what theyre

17 saying and its just things that theyre trying

18 to elaborate to make the application look bad

19 As I expressed to you Board members this

20 application was approved similar last year It

21 was the exact application So everything that

22 shes coming up with and all three of them does

23 not make sense it does not It does not weigh

24 this application God knows it does not And

25 they cannot give you sufficient reasons why

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1 Thats why they come in with all of these

2 fictitious false allegations against this

3 application Thats all theyre doing They

4 approved this application last year they did

5 And thats all Im asking for

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right District

7 MR McDUFFIE Just briefly and I will turn

8 the mic over to Ms Bowen

9 This is the second time youve heard that

10 there was a mirror application from last year I

11 would like to ask the Commission to go to Page 39

12 of the application There is a specific provision

13 in the application which says if the school

14 intends to replicate an existing school design

15 you are supposed to notify the district under E

16 and F in that section

17 In their application that section is blank

18 okay So they are replicating an existing school

19 design they did not notify us of that in the

20 application

21 And secondly that also takes away the

22 innovative factor of the school If theyre

23 replicating an existing school what is innovative

24 about their charter school

25 Just briefly again with respect to that

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1 private school the application is in the name of

2 Stephen Biko Private Charter School so it is a

3 private school that is making the application

4 MS BOWEN I would just like to add that if

5 there was an application that was approved last

6 year within the past five years we would be glad

7 to go back and look if theres a name thats

8 submitted for us to do reference But when we

9 looked through all of our prior applications we

10 could find no areas where there was similar an

11 exact model of an approved application that had

12 already been approved by the district

13 But to respond to point one as far as the

14 guiding principle section the mission statement

15 was general it was vague and it did not describe

16 meaningful or measurable priority It

17 inefficiently defines the values of the school and

18 was inconsistent with the appellants subsequent

19 educational program plan The question of the

20 guidance embedded within question one clearly says

21 that it should explain what the school intends to

22 do for whom and to what degree And I failed to

23 be able to fully answer all of those questions by

24 reading the statement

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Were going to have a QampA

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1 session so what were going to do now is let me

2 ask the Commission members do you have any

3 questions

4 MS BRUBAKER I would like to hear how

5 you -shy

6 DR MYERS Me

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes Dr Myers How you plan

8 on taking those low performing students to be able

9 to do dual enrollment or AP classes

10 DR MYERS Well first of all as those

11 students arrive in the school various testing

12 will be done on those students TABE testing also

13 WRAT4 testing and various things We would look

14 at the matrix of where the kid came from

15 We have a child now that came to us Georgia

16 from one of the schools in Georgia where he was

17 functioning at a lower level The WRAT4 which is

18 designed to motivate the child and test the child

19 TABE test then we get a matrix from that and we

20 set a curriculum for -- excuse me -- we set the

21 curriculum for the child give the child

22 appropriate courses that the child has already

23 taken or retake again

24 So we move the child in small groups which

25 would be one-on-one learning or it could be group

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1 learning activities The chairs in the classroom

2 are set up and a table where one to one and one to

3 one where the child can model the other child and

4 move forward

5 The APEX curriculum which is used in Duval

6 County Public Schools they just finished using

7 the APEX curriculum in one of their failing

8 schools which moved -- increased the grade two

9 grades -- I think one or two grades at Andrew

10 Jackson High School They have the APEX They

11 have several schools in Duval County thats using

12 the APEX curriculum So its a Florida curriculum

13 that is being used

14 As they expressed the application -- when I

15 looked at the application since I was using the

16 APEX curriculum I said okay why not modify this

17 and put it back into context where its being

18 used So what were doing is we just wrote the

19 application in regards to what they wanted They

20 wanted APEX We put the APEX in there Its a

21 proven fact that its successful in their public

22 schools

23 MS ALEXANDER Can you answer her questions

24 I think which is how you are going to move the low

25 learners up to eventually taking the AP test

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1 DR MYERS Right Im sorry I know I only

2 have a few more minutes or a few seconds But

3 eventually as they progress in each area in math

4 science social studies then we test again So

5 we test at the beginning test at the end

6 And as they -- at the midterm level it tells

7 us whether or not theyre going to be remediated

8 in the course or move forward As they move

9 forward we get the curriculum more rigorous again

10 for them and the next course which is in line so

11 basically one on one and group learning is

12 efficient for them Theyre going to have to take

13 the same courses but if theyre testing at lower

14 levels thats where the individualized

15 instruction will help them

16 Did I answer it

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

18 respond to that

19 MR McDUFFIE Ms Bowen would like to

20 respond But I just want to make it also clear

21 that that -- what was just explained verbally is

22 not in the application

23 MS BOWEN The APEX curriculum is about a

24 curriculum for a set population of students as

25 well as the TABE Assessment they test and measure

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1 students basic skills The expectation under the

2 Common Core the FCAT 20 far exceeds that

3 curriculum And yes we have used it with some

4 of our most lowest performing students and Andrew

5 Jackson did make some gains but they still have

6 19 percent of their students are reading

7 proficiently

8 So my concern is with that curriculum I know

9 that there is something that you needed to have a

10 better indication that was going to provide the

11 teacher with a clear pathway of how to meet those

12 gaps By giving me an assessment thats only

13 measuring my minimum skills it does not

14 demonstrate the expectation of the Lexile level

15 thats required for a college entrance And on

16 Page 39 of his application it clearly states for

17 students who are interested in pre-med coursework

18 The expectation for reading cannot be

19 provided with the diagnosis information that you

20 get with a TABE Assessment or an APEX curriculum

21 Page 10 -- Im sorry I said Page 39 its stuck

22 in my head for some reason -- but on Page 10 it

23 talks about pre-med students and the other

24 innovative -- because thats what hes saying

25 its one of the innovative factors of this

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1 program

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you Are there other

3 questions from the Commission members

4 MS BRADLEY I have a question

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Verdya

6 MS BRADLEY My question is for the school

7 the applicant Is this a solely online program

8 DR MYERS No maam Its basically online

9 and direct instruction

10 MS BRADLEY Do you discuss direct

11 instruction in here

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY The reason that I ask that

14 question is the questions in the application asks

15 specifically for a description of the curriculum

16 a description of the reading program And in your

17 responses your responses pretty much tie back to

18 the APEX curriculum so it appears that it is

19 solely reliant on And then all of the

20 documentation that you gave was from the APEX

21 program So I was just wondering is it just

22 solely online

23 DR MYERS The majority of it but theres a

24 piece where the direct instruction is in place

25 with the child because the children are culled

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1 out for the particular course learning for the

2 subject area that theyre doing The regular

3 curriculum comes in -- the APEX Lexile learning

4 comes in Everything is designed where its

5 implemented on the laptop for the child If the

6 child needs direct instruction the child is

7 culled out into an environment where he or she

8 receives the one-on-one instruction

9 MS BRADLEY Did you discuss that in here

10 DR MYERS Im pretty sure I did

11 MS ALEXANDER What page are you looking at

12 for these

13 MS BRADLEY Well it kind of goes back and

14 forth It starts on Page 16 where it starts

15 talking about the educational program and then it

16 gives me probably about 20 30 pages on APEX and

17 then it goes into the reading curriculum But Im

18 not seeing anywhere where theres any supplement

19 to that

20 Because even the question on Page 16 was

21 Describe the proposed reading or educational

22 program it sort of goes through elements of the

23 APEX program Then on Page 68 it says Describe

24 the reading curriculum

25 DR MYERS Yes maam If you look at

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1 the -shy

2 MS HITCHCOCK Stand up please

3 DR MYERS Im sorry

4 CHAIRMAN CHU If you could come to the mic

5 that would be very helpful because our court

6 reporter is trying to get it all down

7 DR MYERS Im sorry The bullet there

8 says Direct instruction individual and small

9 group instruction led by highly-qualified

10 teachers

11 MS ESPOSITO Say the page

12 MS BRADLEY Thats on Page 16 But its

13 just part of the -- its sort of an isolated

14 bullet but it doesnt explain it any further than

15 that You know it doesnt tell me that there is

16 going to be a pull-out portion

17 DR MYERS Right But as I stated I just

18 put a little piece in there because thats just a

19 little piece of the curriculum and thats why I

20 just mentioned a little piece of it there The

21 majority of it is an online based curriculum

22 MS HODGENS I have a question for the

23 school

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

25 MS HODGENS I am confused on the targeted

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1 population Im trying to get it on the motion

2 sheet so Im going to go to targeted population

3 first And I am a little confused on it because I

4 can read what you say on Page 12 And on Page 12

5 you talk about being open to all students and

6 then you talk about low-performing students and

7 then you go back to all students

8 And then when I go to Page 41 the curriculum

9 design you talk about students needing credit

10 recovery And then I continue on and I see AP

11 courses honor courses And again I dont want

12 to allude that I dont believe that kids can do

13 those courses but I want to understand what

14 population youre really looking at

15 DR MYERS Were looking at all students

16 within that demographic And within the

17 demographics it is a lower level You have lower

18 level one level two basically they are coming

19 from the downtown sector area within that 5-mile

20 radius area of the downtown

21 So when I say all students because a

22 charter school cannot deny a student from applying

23 or coming in all students are accepted if they

24 can meet transportation needs to come to school

25 So as I expressed to you thats what

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1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

Page 19: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

19

1 Reporting We also have Karen Chastain who is

2 Chief Legal Officer for the district as well as

3 Shanita Roper and Anita Henry-Smith who are from

4 our charter schools office

5 The first thing that I want to touch upon is

6 the charter school climate in Duval County We

7 approved 13 out of 15 applications that went to

8 the Board during this last cycle We currently

9 have 21 charter schools operating in Duval County

10 And I think if every application or every

11 applicant that had good intentions had their

12 charter school approved there would be an

13 overwhelming number of charter schools It is not

14 necessarily about worthwhile intentions

15 And there has never been any question on our

16 part about the integrity of the people trying to

17 start this charter school none whatsoever They

18 appear to be good people with good intentions It

19 is not about that It is also not about

20 redeveloping downtown Jacksonville It is about

21 the children

22 And thats what we have been given the task

23 of doing as a sponsor to look and make sure that

24 when these applications come in that the children

25 are protected

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1 What Im going to do today is basically

2 provide the Commission with a slight overview with

3 respect to Issue 2 Ms Heiney will talk with

4 respect to Issue 3 And Ms Bowen will talk with

5 respect to Issue 1 just as an overview

6 So moving to Issue 2 governance the first

7 thing -- again keep within the time

8 constraints -- as a highlight the applicant is a

9 private school That in and on its face is a

10 reason for denial If you look at Florida

11 Statutes 100233(3)(b) a private school cannot be

12 a charter school

13 Moving on to management With respect to the

14 management section we were provided with

15 essentially a lot of vague information They

16 failed to give the management structure job

17 descriptions for teachers the administrative

18 positions They failed to give criteria as to how

19 they were going to select teachers And they also

20 failed to describe how they were going to monitor

21 teacher certification as well as how to fill

22 status

23 Based on these measures with respect to

24 Issue 2 under governance and management we feel

25 that the School Board had competent substantial

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1 evidence and good cause to deny the application

2 And next to speak will be Ms Jackie Bowen

3 MS BOWEN Good afternoon Im Jacqueline

4 Bowen the Academic Services Executive Director

5 I do appreciate the applicants passion for

6 students thats why Im here But I would also

7 like to reiterate as our counsel has said that I

8 am not a historical resident of Jacksonville And

9 as we review applications I have no knowledge of

10 many of the historical factors or the political

11 things that are behind it having only been in the

12 city for 12 years My goal and every analysis or

13 review of the complete instructional plan is that

14 it benefit children

15 So in reviewing the actual application there

16 were great deficiencies in the areas of the

17 guiding principles the targeted population was

18 very unclear the education program design the

19 curriculum plan the student performance

20 assessments evaluation the actual educational

21 supporting plan for the ESE population as well as

22 ELL students

23 So for example within this application

24 its supposed to provide any reader or reviewer a

25 very clear picture of what a student will need to

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1 do and what they will experience as they are

2 attending that institution meaning that I should

3 have an understanding of the applicant And the

4 applicant was real clear that he wanted to

5 provide the whole child and provide that

6 experience

7 But it didnt give me a clear understanding

8 or the reviewers upon my team about the

9 structure how the things that were identified

10 were truly going to support and guide teachers

11 decisions to make sure theyre meeting the

12 standards of the NGSS and the Common Core and

13 ultimately graduating

14 The application was indistinguishable between

15 the targeted population because at one point it

16 talked about at-risk students from a particular

17 5-mile geographic dynamics and then it said all

18 students no matter what according to the

19 standard of expectation

20 The applicant briefly described a pre-med

21 program a dual enrollment advanced placement

22 classes And the appeal reiterated the error by

23 describing instructional programs and learning

24 strategies but they failed to provide a clear

25 picture as to how you were going to take

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1 struggling students or any student to that

2 advanced and rigorous curriculum

3 And as we can say that the standard requires

4 the application to explain not only what the

5 school is going to teach but how they were going

6 to teach it I was continually searching which

7 Im not required to do throughout the entire

8 application to see how was this instruction going

9 to be -- what is that child going to experience on

10 a daily basis And it was very unclear

11 Statute 100233 also states that the charter

12 application must have a detailed curriculum plan

13 a curriculum plan not a curriculum resource a

14 plan for instruction that illustrates how those

15 students are going to be provided services to meet

16 those graduation requirements We are in the

17 business of graduating students

18 So the application also didnt provide a very

19 clear reading curriculum They referenced the

20 Just Read Florida Website which Im very happy

21 that they were there supporting but it is a

22 resource document it does not outline a

23 curriculum plan And unfortunately -- and Im

24 saying this in this building -- it really only

25 sports primary education When you get towards

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1 secondary the resources become very limited And

2 I know theyre working on that

3 So the statute requires that we deny the

4 application on the fact that the reading

5 curriculum plan was not sufficient at all

6 Another key issue that was concerning which

7 led to a good cause denial of the application was

8 that a risk of students not being prepared for the

9 FCAT Because they identified assessments which

10 Im very familiar with failed to have the

11 measuring tools that would guide teacher

12 instruction in being able to support deficiencies

13 or make accommodations or get those students ready

14 for that you know accelerated dual enrollment

15 advanced AP or pre-med curriculum

16 Im going to wrap it up because I know

17 everybody is ready to go When we talk about our

18 ELL students and we are doing a lot within our

19 districts to better support all students there

20 was really -- I struggled with finding out how the

21 students were going to enter our school And an

22 ELL student is just one designation because you

23 can have an ELL student that also has an ESE

24 designation and has some little deficiencies in

25 particular other areas

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1 There was no -- they failed to demonstrate

2 how they were going to make choices of selecting

3 the appropriate materials to meet the needs of all

4 students

5 To say we will select resources but there

6 was no clear indication of how those decisions

7 would be made The assessments didnt provide

8 that detailed information to guide that choice so

9 upon that there was no reason but to have a good

10 cause for denial

11 MS HEINEY Good afternoon My name is

12 Angela Heiney H-e-i-n-e-y and I reviewed the

13 business plan for the applicant As an overview

14 the entire business plan did not meet the standard

15 with the exception of the transportation which

16 only partially met the standard

17 There were quite a few reasons that we found

18 for this The biggest -- there were statutory

19 failures all over the place 100233(6)(a)5

20 states that there has to be an annual financial

21 plan based on projected revenues and expenditures

22 What we found is that the revenues and

23 expenditures provided were unsubstantiated

24 unsupported and there was missing money all over

25 the place For example on Page 107 the

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1 applicant states theyre going to take out

2 $500000 in loans to fund their startup however

3 if you look at their five-year business plan

4 there is no repayment for those loans And they

5 provided absolutely no correspondence from any

6 lending institution that says theyre willing to

7 give half a million dollars and not expect a penny

8 back for over five years In this current

9 economic climate that rarely if ever happens

10 Ive never seen it

11 The application and the denial or the

12 response to the denial that was filed -- the

13 notice of appeal -- there were several points that

14 were made in our denial however they never even

15 discussed those

16 For example the application specifically

17 states that they plan on contracting out HR and

18 accounting services however they dont know how

19 much it is so they didnt even include that in

20 their budget For some of our schools that is

21 thousands and thousands of dollars a year just

22 missing

23 Theres inconsistencies Mr Whitaker just

24 stated that the City of Jacksonville has not

25 promised the money However Page 104 states that

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1 they have a verbal commitment There is no

2 evidence of any commitment no letters from former

3 Mayor Delaney no letters from current Mayor

4 Browns office anybody even suggesting that they

5 know who this school is and that theyre willing

6 to support it

7 A second statutory failing occurs again in

8 (6)(a)5 where it states that the application must

9 have a description of controls that safeguard

10 financing

11 During the general help session the

12 applicants were told they must give detailed

13 procedures on certain areas Why Because these

14 are the areas that consistently have fraud

15 errors thefts mistakes We dont like to

16 believe that will happen at schools but frankly

17 bad things do happen

18 They were told you must have accounts

19 payables accounts receivables cash management

20 payroll those areas Why This is where weve

21 seen problems happen There was nothing There

22 was some general policy given on Pages 113 and 14

23 And they state on Page 113 there will be

24 implementation of many internal financial

25 controls however that is not a description of

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1 controls which is what is mandated by the

2 statute

3 Another failing occurs on Statute 21839

4 This statute mandates the use of an independent

5 certified public account for performing annual

6 financial reporting so the audited financial

7 statements which are required

8 In Attachment 7 it states that the same

9 person providing accounting services will also

10 perform the auditing services According to the

11 American Institute of CPAs this is actually a

12 violation of independence and an ethics violation

13 itself So anybody who is willing to do both is

14 not by statute an independent auditor And they

15 have stated in their application thats what

16 theyre going to do

17 When you see one statutory violation that is

18 certainly competent and substantial evidence for

19 denial When you see at least three just in one

20 section now were getting overwhelming grounds

21 for denial

22 But we also saw areas in the facilities where

23 they simply state that they will meet statute

24 Saying youre going to meet statute is not the

25 same as explaining what youre going to do

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1 Theyre stating in their financials that theyre

2 going to have $3 million worth of renovations

3 What on earth are you going to do for $3 million

4 Mr Whitaker stated that the building is just

5 a shell However the application states that it

6 is currently being in use by a daycare for the

7 Urban League So whats going on Theres no

8 consistency between whats being said whats

9 being done in the application

10 In that stance we do not make assumptions

11 We must go with what is written So any verbal

12 statements we cant justify that because all we

13 can hold the applicant to is what has been written

14 in that document

15 We have a problem with food service They

16 state that theyre not going to use NSLP and

17 theyre going to contract a vendor which is

18 perfectly acceptable except their target

19 population is going to be children that are at

20 risk Specifically this is a very high population

21 of children who will qualify for free and reduced

22 lunch What about the kids that cant pay for

23 their food what are they going to do all day in

24 class We cant starve children thats wrong

25 Theres no money in the budget for -shy

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

2 MS HEINEY Im sorry

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

4 MS HEINEY Theres no money in the budget

5 for food so theres no money theres no plan

6 And this is an area that has direct effect on

7 health and well-being of the children

8 The action plan that they gave is completely

9 unrealistic and does not meet up against their

10 academic standards For example they state that

11 theyre going to use Achieve 3000 Achieve 3000

12 is a difficult product to use It does require

13 training

14 And the startup budget and the statement of

15 cash flow is there is no money whatsoever for

16 teacher training So are these teachers supposed

17 to walk in on their first day knowing how to use

18 it The action plan says theres going to be

19 training but theres no money for it so how are

20 you going do it As I said theres quite a bit

21 of reasons And if you have any questions we

22 would be more than happy to respond

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay This takes us to

24 Issue 1 whether the applicant failed to comply

25 with the educational plan regarding guiding

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1 principles target population educational program

2 design curriculum plan student performance

3 assessment and evaluation exceptional students

4 and English language learners

5 So the school if you want to have a couple

6 of minutes to speak directly to the educational

7 plan and then well give the district the same

8 amount of time

9 MS ALEXANDER Sure With respect to the

10 mission statement we believe that the denial was

11 not supported by competent substantial evidence in

12 any way For example the School Board alleges

13 that we didnt provide an adequate mission

14 statement or describe how the school utilizes

15 guiding principles

16 As you can kind of get the sense from hearing

17 Dr Myers hes got a pretty sophisticated sense

18 of mission And with respect to the mission

19 statement the application specifically says on

20 Page 4 The mission statement of the charter high

21 school is to provide an exemplary personalized

22 learning program in a supportive resource rich

23 contemporary learning environment Stephen Biko

24 Charter High School is dedicated to excellence and

25 committed to nurturing passionate lifelong

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1 learners

2 It also says that The school will meet the

3 high standards of student achievement by

4 supporting positive academic outcomes for students

5 by addressing the academic social economical -shy

6 Im sorry -- emotional and behavioral needs of

7 enrolled students And it says that High

8 standards will be evident which will offer parents

9 and guardians of students currently attending the

10 elementary and charter schools of Duval County the

11 flexibility to choose the school

12 So our view is that if you actually look at

13 the application there is a specific mission its

14 very clear and in fact weve met the standard

15 Just as an aside there was a reference to a

16 private school cant be a charter school

17 Dr Myers started the private school on donations

18 alone in the interim because he wanted to try to

19 start offering education to the average students

20 as quickly as possible He consulted with the DOE

21 and was told that in fact he could open up the

22 school and that if the charter is granted he

23 could transition from the private school into the

24 charter model so there isnt any prohibition

25 against how hes doing it

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1 But our view is if you look at the

2 application there is a clear mission its

3 outlined there and it did meet the standard So

4 thank you

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

6 District

7 DR MYERS Can I

8 CHAIRMAN CHU You have about 30 seconds

9 DR MYERS Thank you I contacted the

10 Department of Education and they expressed to me

11 that I have to close the school and once I close

12 the school every child has to apply So that was

13 done prior to opening up the private school

14 As they stated theres nowhere in that

15 application where it states (inaudible) So all

16 of these things are preposterous in what theyre

17 saying and its just things that theyre trying

18 to elaborate to make the application look bad

19 As I expressed to you Board members this

20 application was approved similar last year It

21 was the exact application So everything that

22 shes coming up with and all three of them does

23 not make sense it does not It does not weigh

24 this application God knows it does not And

25 they cannot give you sufficient reasons why

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1 Thats why they come in with all of these

2 fictitious false allegations against this

3 application Thats all theyre doing They

4 approved this application last year they did

5 And thats all Im asking for

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right District

7 MR McDUFFIE Just briefly and I will turn

8 the mic over to Ms Bowen

9 This is the second time youve heard that

10 there was a mirror application from last year I

11 would like to ask the Commission to go to Page 39

12 of the application There is a specific provision

13 in the application which says if the school

14 intends to replicate an existing school design

15 you are supposed to notify the district under E

16 and F in that section

17 In their application that section is blank

18 okay So they are replicating an existing school

19 design they did not notify us of that in the

20 application

21 And secondly that also takes away the

22 innovative factor of the school If theyre

23 replicating an existing school what is innovative

24 about their charter school

25 Just briefly again with respect to that

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1 private school the application is in the name of

2 Stephen Biko Private Charter School so it is a

3 private school that is making the application

4 MS BOWEN I would just like to add that if

5 there was an application that was approved last

6 year within the past five years we would be glad

7 to go back and look if theres a name thats

8 submitted for us to do reference But when we

9 looked through all of our prior applications we

10 could find no areas where there was similar an

11 exact model of an approved application that had

12 already been approved by the district

13 But to respond to point one as far as the

14 guiding principle section the mission statement

15 was general it was vague and it did not describe

16 meaningful or measurable priority It

17 inefficiently defines the values of the school and

18 was inconsistent with the appellants subsequent

19 educational program plan The question of the

20 guidance embedded within question one clearly says

21 that it should explain what the school intends to

22 do for whom and to what degree And I failed to

23 be able to fully answer all of those questions by

24 reading the statement

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Were going to have a QampA

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1 session so what were going to do now is let me

2 ask the Commission members do you have any

3 questions

4 MS BRUBAKER I would like to hear how

5 you -shy

6 DR MYERS Me

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes Dr Myers How you plan

8 on taking those low performing students to be able

9 to do dual enrollment or AP classes

10 DR MYERS Well first of all as those

11 students arrive in the school various testing

12 will be done on those students TABE testing also

13 WRAT4 testing and various things We would look

14 at the matrix of where the kid came from

15 We have a child now that came to us Georgia

16 from one of the schools in Georgia where he was

17 functioning at a lower level The WRAT4 which is

18 designed to motivate the child and test the child

19 TABE test then we get a matrix from that and we

20 set a curriculum for -- excuse me -- we set the

21 curriculum for the child give the child

22 appropriate courses that the child has already

23 taken or retake again

24 So we move the child in small groups which

25 would be one-on-one learning or it could be group

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1 learning activities The chairs in the classroom

2 are set up and a table where one to one and one to

3 one where the child can model the other child and

4 move forward

5 The APEX curriculum which is used in Duval

6 County Public Schools they just finished using

7 the APEX curriculum in one of their failing

8 schools which moved -- increased the grade two

9 grades -- I think one or two grades at Andrew

10 Jackson High School They have the APEX They

11 have several schools in Duval County thats using

12 the APEX curriculum So its a Florida curriculum

13 that is being used

14 As they expressed the application -- when I

15 looked at the application since I was using the

16 APEX curriculum I said okay why not modify this

17 and put it back into context where its being

18 used So what were doing is we just wrote the

19 application in regards to what they wanted They

20 wanted APEX We put the APEX in there Its a

21 proven fact that its successful in their public

22 schools

23 MS ALEXANDER Can you answer her questions

24 I think which is how you are going to move the low

25 learners up to eventually taking the AP test

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1 DR MYERS Right Im sorry I know I only

2 have a few more minutes or a few seconds But

3 eventually as they progress in each area in math

4 science social studies then we test again So

5 we test at the beginning test at the end

6 And as they -- at the midterm level it tells

7 us whether or not theyre going to be remediated

8 in the course or move forward As they move

9 forward we get the curriculum more rigorous again

10 for them and the next course which is in line so

11 basically one on one and group learning is

12 efficient for them Theyre going to have to take

13 the same courses but if theyre testing at lower

14 levels thats where the individualized

15 instruction will help them

16 Did I answer it

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

18 respond to that

19 MR McDUFFIE Ms Bowen would like to

20 respond But I just want to make it also clear

21 that that -- what was just explained verbally is

22 not in the application

23 MS BOWEN The APEX curriculum is about a

24 curriculum for a set population of students as

25 well as the TABE Assessment they test and measure

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1 students basic skills The expectation under the

2 Common Core the FCAT 20 far exceeds that

3 curriculum And yes we have used it with some

4 of our most lowest performing students and Andrew

5 Jackson did make some gains but they still have

6 19 percent of their students are reading

7 proficiently

8 So my concern is with that curriculum I know

9 that there is something that you needed to have a

10 better indication that was going to provide the

11 teacher with a clear pathway of how to meet those

12 gaps By giving me an assessment thats only

13 measuring my minimum skills it does not

14 demonstrate the expectation of the Lexile level

15 thats required for a college entrance And on

16 Page 39 of his application it clearly states for

17 students who are interested in pre-med coursework

18 The expectation for reading cannot be

19 provided with the diagnosis information that you

20 get with a TABE Assessment or an APEX curriculum

21 Page 10 -- Im sorry I said Page 39 its stuck

22 in my head for some reason -- but on Page 10 it

23 talks about pre-med students and the other

24 innovative -- because thats what hes saying

25 its one of the innovative factors of this

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1 program

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you Are there other

3 questions from the Commission members

4 MS BRADLEY I have a question

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Verdya

6 MS BRADLEY My question is for the school

7 the applicant Is this a solely online program

8 DR MYERS No maam Its basically online

9 and direct instruction

10 MS BRADLEY Do you discuss direct

11 instruction in here

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY The reason that I ask that

14 question is the questions in the application asks

15 specifically for a description of the curriculum

16 a description of the reading program And in your

17 responses your responses pretty much tie back to

18 the APEX curriculum so it appears that it is

19 solely reliant on And then all of the

20 documentation that you gave was from the APEX

21 program So I was just wondering is it just

22 solely online

23 DR MYERS The majority of it but theres a

24 piece where the direct instruction is in place

25 with the child because the children are culled

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1 out for the particular course learning for the

2 subject area that theyre doing The regular

3 curriculum comes in -- the APEX Lexile learning

4 comes in Everything is designed where its

5 implemented on the laptop for the child If the

6 child needs direct instruction the child is

7 culled out into an environment where he or she

8 receives the one-on-one instruction

9 MS BRADLEY Did you discuss that in here

10 DR MYERS Im pretty sure I did

11 MS ALEXANDER What page are you looking at

12 for these

13 MS BRADLEY Well it kind of goes back and

14 forth It starts on Page 16 where it starts

15 talking about the educational program and then it

16 gives me probably about 20 30 pages on APEX and

17 then it goes into the reading curriculum But Im

18 not seeing anywhere where theres any supplement

19 to that

20 Because even the question on Page 16 was

21 Describe the proposed reading or educational

22 program it sort of goes through elements of the

23 APEX program Then on Page 68 it says Describe

24 the reading curriculum

25 DR MYERS Yes maam If you look at

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1 the -shy

2 MS HITCHCOCK Stand up please

3 DR MYERS Im sorry

4 CHAIRMAN CHU If you could come to the mic

5 that would be very helpful because our court

6 reporter is trying to get it all down

7 DR MYERS Im sorry The bullet there

8 says Direct instruction individual and small

9 group instruction led by highly-qualified

10 teachers

11 MS ESPOSITO Say the page

12 MS BRADLEY Thats on Page 16 But its

13 just part of the -- its sort of an isolated

14 bullet but it doesnt explain it any further than

15 that You know it doesnt tell me that there is

16 going to be a pull-out portion

17 DR MYERS Right But as I stated I just

18 put a little piece in there because thats just a

19 little piece of the curriculum and thats why I

20 just mentioned a little piece of it there The

21 majority of it is an online based curriculum

22 MS HODGENS I have a question for the

23 school

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

25 MS HODGENS I am confused on the targeted

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1 population Im trying to get it on the motion

2 sheet so Im going to go to targeted population

3 first And I am a little confused on it because I

4 can read what you say on Page 12 And on Page 12

5 you talk about being open to all students and

6 then you talk about low-performing students and

7 then you go back to all students

8 And then when I go to Page 41 the curriculum

9 design you talk about students needing credit

10 recovery And then I continue on and I see AP

11 courses honor courses And again I dont want

12 to allude that I dont believe that kids can do

13 those courses but I want to understand what

14 population youre really looking at

15 DR MYERS Were looking at all students

16 within that demographic And within the

17 demographics it is a lower level You have lower

18 level one level two basically they are coming

19 from the downtown sector area within that 5-mile

20 radius area of the downtown

21 So when I say all students because a

22 charter school cannot deny a student from applying

23 or coming in all students are accepted if they

24 can meet transportation needs to come to school

25 So as I expressed to you thats what

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1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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Page 20: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

20

1 What Im going to do today is basically

2 provide the Commission with a slight overview with

3 respect to Issue 2 Ms Heiney will talk with

4 respect to Issue 3 And Ms Bowen will talk with

5 respect to Issue 1 just as an overview

6 So moving to Issue 2 governance the first

7 thing -- again keep within the time

8 constraints -- as a highlight the applicant is a

9 private school That in and on its face is a

10 reason for denial If you look at Florida

11 Statutes 100233(3)(b) a private school cannot be

12 a charter school

13 Moving on to management With respect to the

14 management section we were provided with

15 essentially a lot of vague information They

16 failed to give the management structure job

17 descriptions for teachers the administrative

18 positions They failed to give criteria as to how

19 they were going to select teachers And they also

20 failed to describe how they were going to monitor

21 teacher certification as well as how to fill

22 status

23 Based on these measures with respect to

24 Issue 2 under governance and management we feel

25 that the School Board had competent substantial

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1 evidence and good cause to deny the application

2 And next to speak will be Ms Jackie Bowen

3 MS BOWEN Good afternoon Im Jacqueline

4 Bowen the Academic Services Executive Director

5 I do appreciate the applicants passion for

6 students thats why Im here But I would also

7 like to reiterate as our counsel has said that I

8 am not a historical resident of Jacksonville And

9 as we review applications I have no knowledge of

10 many of the historical factors or the political

11 things that are behind it having only been in the

12 city for 12 years My goal and every analysis or

13 review of the complete instructional plan is that

14 it benefit children

15 So in reviewing the actual application there

16 were great deficiencies in the areas of the

17 guiding principles the targeted population was

18 very unclear the education program design the

19 curriculum plan the student performance

20 assessments evaluation the actual educational

21 supporting plan for the ESE population as well as

22 ELL students

23 So for example within this application

24 its supposed to provide any reader or reviewer a

25 very clear picture of what a student will need to

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1 do and what they will experience as they are

2 attending that institution meaning that I should

3 have an understanding of the applicant And the

4 applicant was real clear that he wanted to

5 provide the whole child and provide that

6 experience

7 But it didnt give me a clear understanding

8 or the reviewers upon my team about the

9 structure how the things that were identified

10 were truly going to support and guide teachers

11 decisions to make sure theyre meeting the

12 standards of the NGSS and the Common Core and

13 ultimately graduating

14 The application was indistinguishable between

15 the targeted population because at one point it

16 talked about at-risk students from a particular

17 5-mile geographic dynamics and then it said all

18 students no matter what according to the

19 standard of expectation

20 The applicant briefly described a pre-med

21 program a dual enrollment advanced placement

22 classes And the appeal reiterated the error by

23 describing instructional programs and learning

24 strategies but they failed to provide a clear

25 picture as to how you were going to take

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1 struggling students or any student to that

2 advanced and rigorous curriculum

3 And as we can say that the standard requires

4 the application to explain not only what the

5 school is going to teach but how they were going

6 to teach it I was continually searching which

7 Im not required to do throughout the entire

8 application to see how was this instruction going

9 to be -- what is that child going to experience on

10 a daily basis And it was very unclear

11 Statute 100233 also states that the charter

12 application must have a detailed curriculum plan

13 a curriculum plan not a curriculum resource a

14 plan for instruction that illustrates how those

15 students are going to be provided services to meet

16 those graduation requirements We are in the

17 business of graduating students

18 So the application also didnt provide a very

19 clear reading curriculum They referenced the

20 Just Read Florida Website which Im very happy

21 that they were there supporting but it is a

22 resource document it does not outline a

23 curriculum plan And unfortunately -- and Im

24 saying this in this building -- it really only

25 sports primary education When you get towards

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1 secondary the resources become very limited And

2 I know theyre working on that

3 So the statute requires that we deny the

4 application on the fact that the reading

5 curriculum plan was not sufficient at all

6 Another key issue that was concerning which

7 led to a good cause denial of the application was

8 that a risk of students not being prepared for the

9 FCAT Because they identified assessments which

10 Im very familiar with failed to have the

11 measuring tools that would guide teacher

12 instruction in being able to support deficiencies

13 or make accommodations or get those students ready

14 for that you know accelerated dual enrollment

15 advanced AP or pre-med curriculum

16 Im going to wrap it up because I know

17 everybody is ready to go When we talk about our

18 ELL students and we are doing a lot within our

19 districts to better support all students there

20 was really -- I struggled with finding out how the

21 students were going to enter our school And an

22 ELL student is just one designation because you

23 can have an ELL student that also has an ESE

24 designation and has some little deficiencies in

25 particular other areas

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1 There was no -- they failed to demonstrate

2 how they were going to make choices of selecting

3 the appropriate materials to meet the needs of all

4 students

5 To say we will select resources but there

6 was no clear indication of how those decisions

7 would be made The assessments didnt provide

8 that detailed information to guide that choice so

9 upon that there was no reason but to have a good

10 cause for denial

11 MS HEINEY Good afternoon My name is

12 Angela Heiney H-e-i-n-e-y and I reviewed the

13 business plan for the applicant As an overview

14 the entire business plan did not meet the standard

15 with the exception of the transportation which

16 only partially met the standard

17 There were quite a few reasons that we found

18 for this The biggest -- there were statutory

19 failures all over the place 100233(6)(a)5

20 states that there has to be an annual financial

21 plan based on projected revenues and expenditures

22 What we found is that the revenues and

23 expenditures provided were unsubstantiated

24 unsupported and there was missing money all over

25 the place For example on Page 107 the

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1 applicant states theyre going to take out

2 $500000 in loans to fund their startup however

3 if you look at their five-year business plan

4 there is no repayment for those loans And they

5 provided absolutely no correspondence from any

6 lending institution that says theyre willing to

7 give half a million dollars and not expect a penny

8 back for over five years In this current

9 economic climate that rarely if ever happens

10 Ive never seen it

11 The application and the denial or the

12 response to the denial that was filed -- the

13 notice of appeal -- there were several points that

14 were made in our denial however they never even

15 discussed those

16 For example the application specifically

17 states that they plan on contracting out HR and

18 accounting services however they dont know how

19 much it is so they didnt even include that in

20 their budget For some of our schools that is

21 thousands and thousands of dollars a year just

22 missing

23 Theres inconsistencies Mr Whitaker just

24 stated that the City of Jacksonville has not

25 promised the money However Page 104 states that

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1 they have a verbal commitment There is no

2 evidence of any commitment no letters from former

3 Mayor Delaney no letters from current Mayor

4 Browns office anybody even suggesting that they

5 know who this school is and that theyre willing

6 to support it

7 A second statutory failing occurs again in

8 (6)(a)5 where it states that the application must

9 have a description of controls that safeguard

10 financing

11 During the general help session the

12 applicants were told they must give detailed

13 procedures on certain areas Why Because these

14 are the areas that consistently have fraud

15 errors thefts mistakes We dont like to

16 believe that will happen at schools but frankly

17 bad things do happen

18 They were told you must have accounts

19 payables accounts receivables cash management

20 payroll those areas Why This is where weve

21 seen problems happen There was nothing There

22 was some general policy given on Pages 113 and 14

23 And they state on Page 113 there will be

24 implementation of many internal financial

25 controls however that is not a description of

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1 controls which is what is mandated by the

2 statute

3 Another failing occurs on Statute 21839

4 This statute mandates the use of an independent

5 certified public account for performing annual

6 financial reporting so the audited financial

7 statements which are required

8 In Attachment 7 it states that the same

9 person providing accounting services will also

10 perform the auditing services According to the

11 American Institute of CPAs this is actually a

12 violation of independence and an ethics violation

13 itself So anybody who is willing to do both is

14 not by statute an independent auditor And they

15 have stated in their application thats what

16 theyre going to do

17 When you see one statutory violation that is

18 certainly competent and substantial evidence for

19 denial When you see at least three just in one

20 section now were getting overwhelming grounds

21 for denial

22 But we also saw areas in the facilities where

23 they simply state that they will meet statute

24 Saying youre going to meet statute is not the

25 same as explaining what youre going to do

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1 Theyre stating in their financials that theyre

2 going to have $3 million worth of renovations

3 What on earth are you going to do for $3 million

4 Mr Whitaker stated that the building is just

5 a shell However the application states that it

6 is currently being in use by a daycare for the

7 Urban League So whats going on Theres no

8 consistency between whats being said whats

9 being done in the application

10 In that stance we do not make assumptions

11 We must go with what is written So any verbal

12 statements we cant justify that because all we

13 can hold the applicant to is what has been written

14 in that document

15 We have a problem with food service They

16 state that theyre not going to use NSLP and

17 theyre going to contract a vendor which is

18 perfectly acceptable except their target

19 population is going to be children that are at

20 risk Specifically this is a very high population

21 of children who will qualify for free and reduced

22 lunch What about the kids that cant pay for

23 their food what are they going to do all day in

24 class We cant starve children thats wrong

25 Theres no money in the budget for -shy

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

2 MS HEINEY Im sorry

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

4 MS HEINEY Theres no money in the budget

5 for food so theres no money theres no plan

6 And this is an area that has direct effect on

7 health and well-being of the children

8 The action plan that they gave is completely

9 unrealistic and does not meet up against their

10 academic standards For example they state that

11 theyre going to use Achieve 3000 Achieve 3000

12 is a difficult product to use It does require

13 training

14 And the startup budget and the statement of

15 cash flow is there is no money whatsoever for

16 teacher training So are these teachers supposed

17 to walk in on their first day knowing how to use

18 it The action plan says theres going to be

19 training but theres no money for it so how are

20 you going do it As I said theres quite a bit

21 of reasons And if you have any questions we

22 would be more than happy to respond

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay This takes us to

24 Issue 1 whether the applicant failed to comply

25 with the educational plan regarding guiding

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1 principles target population educational program

2 design curriculum plan student performance

3 assessment and evaluation exceptional students

4 and English language learners

5 So the school if you want to have a couple

6 of minutes to speak directly to the educational

7 plan and then well give the district the same

8 amount of time

9 MS ALEXANDER Sure With respect to the

10 mission statement we believe that the denial was

11 not supported by competent substantial evidence in

12 any way For example the School Board alleges

13 that we didnt provide an adequate mission

14 statement or describe how the school utilizes

15 guiding principles

16 As you can kind of get the sense from hearing

17 Dr Myers hes got a pretty sophisticated sense

18 of mission And with respect to the mission

19 statement the application specifically says on

20 Page 4 The mission statement of the charter high

21 school is to provide an exemplary personalized

22 learning program in a supportive resource rich

23 contemporary learning environment Stephen Biko

24 Charter High School is dedicated to excellence and

25 committed to nurturing passionate lifelong

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1 learners

2 It also says that The school will meet the

3 high standards of student achievement by

4 supporting positive academic outcomes for students

5 by addressing the academic social economical -shy

6 Im sorry -- emotional and behavioral needs of

7 enrolled students And it says that High

8 standards will be evident which will offer parents

9 and guardians of students currently attending the

10 elementary and charter schools of Duval County the

11 flexibility to choose the school

12 So our view is that if you actually look at

13 the application there is a specific mission its

14 very clear and in fact weve met the standard

15 Just as an aside there was a reference to a

16 private school cant be a charter school

17 Dr Myers started the private school on donations

18 alone in the interim because he wanted to try to

19 start offering education to the average students

20 as quickly as possible He consulted with the DOE

21 and was told that in fact he could open up the

22 school and that if the charter is granted he

23 could transition from the private school into the

24 charter model so there isnt any prohibition

25 against how hes doing it

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1 But our view is if you look at the

2 application there is a clear mission its

3 outlined there and it did meet the standard So

4 thank you

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

6 District

7 DR MYERS Can I

8 CHAIRMAN CHU You have about 30 seconds

9 DR MYERS Thank you I contacted the

10 Department of Education and they expressed to me

11 that I have to close the school and once I close

12 the school every child has to apply So that was

13 done prior to opening up the private school

14 As they stated theres nowhere in that

15 application where it states (inaudible) So all

16 of these things are preposterous in what theyre

17 saying and its just things that theyre trying

18 to elaborate to make the application look bad

19 As I expressed to you Board members this

20 application was approved similar last year It

21 was the exact application So everything that

22 shes coming up with and all three of them does

23 not make sense it does not It does not weigh

24 this application God knows it does not And

25 they cannot give you sufficient reasons why

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1 Thats why they come in with all of these

2 fictitious false allegations against this

3 application Thats all theyre doing They

4 approved this application last year they did

5 And thats all Im asking for

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right District

7 MR McDUFFIE Just briefly and I will turn

8 the mic over to Ms Bowen

9 This is the second time youve heard that

10 there was a mirror application from last year I

11 would like to ask the Commission to go to Page 39

12 of the application There is a specific provision

13 in the application which says if the school

14 intends to replicate an existing school design

15 you are supposed to notify the district under E

16 and F in that section

17 In their application that section is blank

18 okay So they are replicating an existing school

19 design they did not notify us of that in the

20 application

21 And secondly that also takes away the

22 innovative factor of the school If theyre

23 replicating an existing school what is innovative

24 about their charter school

25 Just briefly again with respect to that

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1 private school the application is in the name of

2 Stephen Biko Private Charter School so it is a

3 private school that is making the application

4 MS BOWEN I would just like to add that if

5 there was an application that was approved last

6 year within the past five years we would be glad

7 to go back and look if theres a name thats

8 submitted for us to do reference But when we

9 looked through all of our prior applications we

10 could find no areas where there was similar an

11 exact model of an approved application that had

12 already been approved by the district

13 But to respond to point one as far as the

14 guiding principle section the mission statement

15 was general it was vague and it did not describe

16 meaningful or measurable priority It

17 inefficiently defines the values of the school and

18 was inconsistent with the appellants subsequent

19 educational program plan The question of the

20 guidance embedded within question one clearly says

21 that it should explain what the school intends to

22 do for whom and to what degree And I failed to

23 be able to fully answer all of those questions by

24 reading the statement

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Were going to have a QampA

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1 session so what were going to do now is let me

2 ask the Commission members do you have any

3 questions

4 MS BRUBAKER I would like to hear how

5 you -shy

6 DR MYERS Me

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes Dr Myers How you plan

8 on taking those low performing students to be able

9 to do dual enrollment or AP classes

10 DR MYERS Well first of all as those

11 students arrive in the school various testing

12 will be done on those students TABE testing also

13 WRAT4 testing and various things We would look

14 at the matrix of where the kid came from

15 We have a child now that came to us Georgia

16 from one of the schools in Georgia where he was

17 functioning at a lower level The WRAT4 which is

18 designed to motivate the child and test the child

19 TABE test then we get a matrix from that and we

20 set a curriculum for -- excuse me -- we set the

21 curriculum for the child give the child

22 appropriate courses that the child has already

23 taken or retake again

24 So we move the child in small groups which

25 would be one-on-one learning or it could be group

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1 learning activities The chairs in the classroom

2 are set up and a table where one to one and one to

3 one where the child can model the other child and

4 move forward

5 The APEX curriculum which is used in Duval

6 County Public Schools they just finished using

7 the APEX curriculum in one of their failing

8 schools which moved -- increased the grade two

9 grades -- I think one or two grades at Andrew

10 Jackson High School They have the APEX They

11 have several schools in Duval County thats using

12 the APEX curriculum So its a Florida curriculum

13 that is being used

14 As they expressed the application -- when I

15 looked at the application since I was using the

16 APEX curriculum I said okay why not modify this

17 and put it back into context where its being

18 used So what were doing is we just wrote the

19 application in regards to what they wanted They

20 wanted APEX We put the APEX in there Its a

21 proven fact that its successful in their public

22 schools

23 MS ALEXANDER Can you answer her questions

24 I think which is how you are going to move the low

25 learners up to eventually taking the AP test

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1 DR MYERS Right Im sorry I know I only

2 have a few more minutes or a few seconds But

3 eventually as they progress in each area in math

4 science social studies then we test again So

5 we test at the beginning test at the end

6 And as they -- at the midterm level it tells

7 us whether or not theyre going to be remediated

8 in the course or move forward As they move

9 forward we get the curriculum more rigorous again

10 for them and the next course which is in line so

11 basically one on one and group learning is

12 efficient for them Theyre going to have to take

13 the same courses but if theyre testing at lower

14 levels thats where the individualized

15 instruction will help them

16 Did I answer it

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

18 respond to that

19 MR McDUFFIE Ms Bowen would like to

20 respond But I just want to make it also clear

21 that that -- what was just explained verbally is

22 not in the application

23 MS BOWEN The APEX curriculum is about a

24 curriculum for a set population of students as

25 well as the TABE Assessment they test and measure

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1 students basic skills The expectation under the

2 Common Core the FCAT 20 far exceeds that

3 curriculum And yes we have used it with some

4 of our most lowest performing students and Andrew

5 Jackson did make some gains but they still have

6 19 percent of their students are reading

7 proficiently

8 So my concern is with that curriculum I know

9 that there is something that you needed to have a

10 better indication that was going to provide the

11 teacher with a clear pathway of how to meet those

12 gaps By giving me an assessment thats only

13 measuring my minimum skills it does not

14 demonstrate the expectation of the Lexile level

15 thats required for a college entrance And on

16 Page 39 of his application it clearly states for

17 students who are interested in pre-med coursework

18 The expectation for reading cannot be

19 provided with the diagnosis information that you

20 get with a TABE Assessment or an APEX curriculum

21 Page 10 -- Im sorry I said Page 39 its stuck

22 in my head for some reason -- but on Page 10 it

23 talks about pre-med students and the other

24 innovative -- because thats what hes saying

25 its one of the innovative factors of this

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1 program

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you Are there other

3 questions from the Commission members

4 MS BRADLEY I have a question

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Verdya

6 MS BRADLEY My question is for the school

7 the applicant Is this a solely online program

8 DR MYERS No maam Its basically online

9 and direct instruction

10 MS BRADLEY Do you discuss direct

11 instruction in here

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY The reason that I ask that

14 question is the questions in the application asks

15 specifically for a description of the curriculum

16 a description of the reading program And in your

17 responses your responses pretty much tie back to

18 the APEX curriculum so it appears that it is

19 solely reliant on And then all of the

20 documentation that you gave was from the APEX

21 program So I was just wondering is it just

22 solely online

23 DR MYERS The majority of it but theres a

24 piece where the direct instruction is in place

25 with the child because the children are culled

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1 out for the particular course learning for the

2 subject area that theyre doing The regular

3 curriculum comes in -- the APEX Lexile learning

4 comes in Everything is designed where its

5 implemented on the laptop for the child If the

6 child needs direct instruction the child is

7 culled out into an environment where he or she

8 receives the one-on-one instruction

9 MS BRADLEY Did you discuss that in here

10 DR MYERS Im pretty sure I did

11 MS ALEXANDER What page are you looking at

12 for these

13 MS BRADLEY Well it kind of goes back and

14 forth It starts on Page 16 where it starts

15 talking about the educational program and then it

16 gives me probably about 20 30 pages on APEX and

17 then it goes into the reading curriculum But Im

18 not seeing anywhere where theres any supplement

19 to that

20 Because even the question on Page 16 was

21 Describe the proposed reading or educational

22 program it sort of goes through elements of the

23 APEX program Then on Page 68 it says Describe

24 the reading curriculum

25 DR MYERS Yes maam If you look at

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1 the -shy

2 MS HITCHCOCK Stand up please

3 DR MYERS Im sorry

4 CHAIRMAN CHU If you could come to the mic

5 that would be very helpful because our court

6 reporter is trying to get it all down

7 DR MYERS Im sorry The bullet there

8 says Direct instruction individual and small

9 group instruction led by highly-qualified

10 teachers

11 MS ESPOSITO Say the page

12 MS BRADLEY Thats on Page 16 But its

13 just part of the -- its sort of an isolated

14 bullet but it doesnt explain it any further than

15 that You know it doesnt tell me that there is

16 going to be a pull-out portion

17 DR MYERS Right But as I stated I just

18 put a little piece in there because thats just a

19 little piece of the curriculum and thats why I

20 just mentioned a little piece of it there The

21 majority of it is an online based curriculum

22 MS HODGENS I have a question for the

23 school

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

25 MS HODGENS I am confused on the targeted

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1 population Im trying to get it on the motion

2 sheet so Im going to go to targeted population

3 first And I am a little confused on it because I

4 can read what you say on Page 12 And on Page 12

5 you talk about being open to all students and

6 then you talk about low-performing students and

7 then you go back to all students

8 And then when I go to Page 41 the curriculum

9 design you talk about students needing credit

10 recovery And then I continue on and I see AP

11 courses honor courses And again I dont want

12 to allude that I dont believe that kids can do

13 those courses but I want to understand what

14 population youre really looking at

15 DR MYERS Were looking at all students

16 within that demographic And within the

17 demographics it is a lower level You have lower

18 level one level two basically they are coming

19 from the downtown sector area within that 5-mile

20 radius area of the downtown

21 So when I say all students because a

22 charter school cannot deny a student from applying

23 or coming in all students are accepted if they

24 can meet transportation needs to come to school

25 So as I expressed to you thats what

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1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

Page 21: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

21

1 evidence and good cause to deny the application

2 And next to speak will be Ms Jackie Bowen

3 MS BOWEN Good afternoon Im Jacqueline

4 Bowen the Academic Services Executive Director

5 I do appreciate the applicants passion for

6 students thats why Im here But I would also

7 like to reiterate as our counsel has said that I

8 am not a historical resident of Jacksonville And

9 as we review applications I have no knowledge of

10 many of the historical factors or the political

11 things that are behind it having only been in the

12 city for 12 years My goal and every analysis or

13 review of the complete instructional plan is that

14 it benefit children

15 So in reviewing the actual application there

16 were great deficiencies in the areas of the

17 guiding principles the targeted population was

18 very unclear the education program design the

19 curriculum plan the student performance

20 assessments evaluation the actual educational

21 supporting plan for the ESE population as well as

22 ELL students

23 So for example within this application

24 its supposed to provide any reader or reviewer a

25 very clear picture of what a student will need to

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1 do and what they will experience as they are

2 attending that institution meaning that I should

3 have an understanding of the applicant And the

4 applicant was real clear that he wanted to

5 provide the whole child and provide that

6 experience

7 But it didnt give me a clear understanding

8 or the reviewers upon my team about the

9 structure how the things that were identified

10 were truly going to support and guide teachers

11 decisions to make sure theyre meeting the

12 standards of the NGSS and the Common Core and

13 ultimately graduating

14 The application was indistinguishable between

15 the targeted population because at one point it

16 talked about at-risk students from a particular

17 5-mile geographic dynamics and then it said all

18 students no matter what according to the

19 standard of expectation

20 The applicant briefly described a pre-med

21 program a dual enrollment advanced placement

22 classes And the appeal reiterated the error by

23 describing instructional programs and learning

24 strategies but they failed to provide a clear

25 picture as to how you were going to take

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1 struggling students or any student to that

2 advanced and rigorous curriculum

3 And as we can say that the standard requires

4 the application to explain not only what the

5 school is going to teach but how they were going

6 to teach it I was continually searching which

7 Im not required to do throughout the entire

8 application to see how was this instruction going

9 to be -- what is that child going to experience on

10 a daily basis And it was very unclear

11 Statute 100233 also states that the charter

12 application must have a detailed curriculum plan

13 a curriculum plan not a curriculum resource a

14 plan for instruction that illustrates how those

15 students are going to be provided services to meet

16 those graduation requirements We are in the

17 business of graduating students

18 So the application also didnt provide a very

19 clear reading curriculum They referenced the

20 Just Read Florida Website which Im very happy

21 that they were there supporting but it is a

22 resource document it does not outline a

23 curriculum plan And unfortunately -- and Im

24 saying this in this building -- it really only

25 sports primary education When you get towards

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1 secondary the resources become very limited And

2 I know theyre working on that

3 So the statute requires that we deny the

4 application on the fact that the reading

5 curriculum plan was not sufficient at all

6 Another key issue that was concerning which

7 led to a good cause denial of the application was

8 that a risk of students not being prepared for the

9 FCAT Because they identified assessments which

10 Im very familiar with failed to have the

11 measuring tools that would guide teacher

12 instruction in being able to support deficiencies

13 or make accommodations or get those students ready

14 for that you know accelerated dual enrollment

15 advanced AP or pre-med curriculum

16 Im going to wrap it up because I know

17 everybody is ready to go When we talk about our

18 ELL students and we are doing a lot within our

19 districts to better support all students there

20 was really -- I struggled with finding out how the

21 students were going to enter our school And an

22 ELL student is just one designation because you

23 can have an ELL student that also has an ESE

24 designation and has some little deficiencies in

25 particular other areas

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1 There was no -- they failed to demonstrate

2 how they were going to make choices of selecting

3 the appropriate materials to meet the needs of all

4 students

5 To say we will select resources but there

6 was no clear indication of how those decisions

7 would be made The assessments didnt provide

8 that detailed information to guide that choice so

9 upon that there was no reason but to have a good

10 cause for denial

11 MS HEINEY Good afternoon My name is

12 Angela Heiney H-e-i-n-e-y and I reviewed the

13 business plan for the applicant As an overview

14 the entire business plan did not meet the standard

15 with the exception of the transportation which

16 only partially met the standard

17 There were quite a few reasons that we found

18 for this The biggest -- there were statutory

19 failures all over the place 100233(6)(a)5

20 states that there has to be an annual financial

21 plan based on projected revenues and expenditures

22 What we found is that the revenues and

23 expenditures provided were unsubstantiated

24 unsupported and there was missing money all over

25 the place For example on Page 107 the

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1 applicant states theyre going to take out

2 $500000 in loans to fund their startup however

3 if you look at their five-year business plan

4 there is no repayment for those loans And they

5 provided absolutely no correspondence from any

6 lending institution that says theyre willing to

7 give half a million dollars and not expect a penny

8 back for over five years In this current

9 economic climate that rarely if ever happens

10 Ive never seen it

11 The application and the denial or the

12 response to the denial that was filed -- the

13 notice of appeal -- there were several points that

14 were made in our denial however they never even

15 discussed those

16 For example the application specifically

17 states that they plan on contracting out HR and

18 accounting services however they dont know how

19 much it is so they didnt even include that in

20 their budget For some of our schools that is

21 thousands and thousands of dollars a year just

22 missing

23 Theres inconsistencies Mr Whitaker just

24 stated that the City of Jacksonville has not

25 promised the money However Page 104 states that

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1 they have a verbal commitment There is no

2 evidence of any commitment no letters from former

3 Mayor Delaney no letters from current Mayor

4 Browns office anybody even suggesting that they

5 know who this school is and that theyre willing

6 to support it

7 A second statutory failing occurs again in

8 (6)(a)5 where it states that the application must

9 have a description of controls that safeguard

10 financing

11 During the general help session the

12 applicants were told they must give detailed

13 procedures on certain areas Why Because these

14 are the areas that consistently have fraud

15 errors thefts mistakes We dont like to

16 believe that will happen at schools but frankly

17 bad things do happen

18 They were told you must have accounts

19 payables accounts receivables cash management

20 payroll those areas Why This is where weve

21 seen problems happen There was nothing There

22 was some general policy given on Pages 113 and 14

23 And they state on Page 113 there will be

24 implementation of many internal financial

25 controls however that is not a description of

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1 controls which is what is mandated by the

2 statute

3 Another failing occurs on Statute 21839

4 This statute mandates the use of an independent

5 certified public account for performing annual

6 financial reporting so the audited financial

7 statements which are required

8 In Attachment 7 it states that the same

9 person providing accounting services will also

10 perform the auditing services According to the

11 American Institute of CPAs this is actually a

12 violation of independence and an ethics violation

13 itself So anybody who is willing to do both is

14 not by statute an independent auditor And they

15 have stated in their application thats what

16 theyre going to do

17 When you see one statutory violation that is

18 certainly competent and substantial evidence for

19 denial When you see at least three just in one

20 section now were getting overwhelming grounds

21 for denial

22 But we also saw areas in the facilities where

23 they simply state that they will meet statute

24 Saying youre going to meet statute is not the

25 same as explaining what youre going to do

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1 Theyre stating in their financials that theyre

2 going to have $3 million worth of renovations

3 What on earth are you going to do for $3 million

4 Mr Whitaker stated that the building is just

5 a shell However the application states that it

6 is currently being in use by a daycare for the

7 Urban League So whats going on Theres no

8 consistency between whats being said whats

9 being done in the application

10 In that stance we do not make assumptions

11 We must go with what is written So any verbal

12 statements we cant justify that because all we

13 can hold the applicant to is what has been written

14 in that document

15 We have a problem with food service They

16 state that theyre not going to use NSLP and

17 theyre going to contract a vendor which is

18 perfectly acceptable except their target

19 population is going to be children that are at

20 risk Specifically this is a very high population

21 of children who will qualify for free and reduced

22 lunch What about the kids that cant pay for

23 their food what are they going to do all day in

24 class We cant starve children thats wrong

25 Theres no money in the budget for -shy

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

2 MS HEINEY Im sorry

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

4 MS HEINEY Theres no money in the budget

5 for food so theres no money theres no plan

6 And this is an area that has direct effect on

7 health and well-being of the children

8 The action plan that they gave is completely

9 unrealistic and does not meet up against their

10 academic standards For example they state that

11 theyre going to use Achieve 3000 Achieve 3000

12 is a difficult product to use It does require

13 training

14 And the startup budget and the statement of

15 cash flow is there is no money whatsoever for

16 teacher training So are these teachers supposed

17 to walk in on their first day knowing how to use

18 it The action plan says theres going to be

19 training but theres no money for it so how are

20 you going do it As I said theres quite a bit

21 of reasons And if you have any questions we

22 would be more than happy to respond

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay This takes us to

24 Issue 1 whether the applicant failed to comply

25 with the educational plan regarding guiding

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1 principles target population educational program

2 design curriculum plan student performance

3 assessment and evaluation exceptional students

4 and English language learners

5 So the school if you want to have a couple

6 of minutes to speak directly to the educational

7 plan and then well give the district the same

8 amount of time

9 MS ALEXANDER Sure With respect to the

10 mission statement we believe that the denial was

11 not supported by competent substantial evidence in

12 any way For example the School Board alleges

13 that we didnt provide an adequate mission

14 statement or describe how the school utilizes

15 guiding principles

16 As you can kind of get the sense from hearing

17 Dr Myers hes got a pretty sophisticated sense

18 of mission And with respect to the mission

19 statement the application specifically says on

20 Page 4 The mission statement of the charter high

21 school is to provide an exemplary personalized

22 learning program in a supportive resource rich

23 contemporary learning environment Stephen Biko

24 Charter High School is dedicated to excellence and

25 committed to nurturing passionate lifelong

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1 learners

2 It also says that The school will meet the

3 high standards of student achievement by

4 supporting positive academic outcomes for students

5 by addressing the academic social economical -shy

6 Im sorry -- emotional and behavioral needs of

7 enrolled students And it says that High

8 standards will be evident which will offer parents

9 and guardians of students currently attending the

10 elementary and charter schools of Duval County the

11 flexibility to choose the school

12 So our view is that if you actually look at

13 the application there is a specific mission its

14 very clear and in fact weve met the standard

15 Just as an aside there was a reference to a

16 private school cant be a charter school

17 Dr Myers started the private school on donations

18 alone in the interim because he wanted to try to

19 start offering education to the average students

20 as quickly as possible He consulted with the DOE

21 and was told that in fact he could open up the

22 school and that if the charter is granted he

23 could transition from the private school into the

24 charter model so there isnt any prohibition

25 against how hes doing it

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1 But our view is if you look at the

2 application there is a clear mission its

3 outlined there and it did meet the standard So

4 thank you

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

6 District

7 DR MYERS Can I

8 CHAIRMAN CHU You have about 30 seconds

9 DR MYERS Thank you I contacted the

10 Department of Education and they expressed to me

11 that I have to close the school and once I close

12 the school every child has to apply So that was

13 done prior to opening up the private school

14 As they stated theres nowhere in that

15 application where it states (inaudible) So all

16 of these things are preposterous in what theyre

17 saying and its just things that theyre trying

18 to elaborate to make the application look bad

19 As I expressed to you Board members this

20 application was approved similar last year It

21 was the exact application So everything that

22 shes coming up with and all three of them does

23 not make sense it does not It does not weigh

24 this application God knows it does not And

25 they cannot give you sufficient reasons why

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1 Thats why they come in with all of these

2 fictitious false allegations against this

3 application Thats all theyre doing They

4 approved this application last year they did

5 And thats all Im asking for

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right District

7 MR McDUFFIE Just briefly and I will turn

8 the mic over to Ms Bowen

9 This is the second time youve heard that

10 there was a mirror application from last year I

11 would like to ask the Commission to go to Page 39

12 of the application There is a specific provision

13 in the application which says if the school

14 intends to replicate an existing school design

15 you are supposed to notify the district under E

16 and F in that section

17 In their application that section is blank

18 okay So they are replicating an existing school

19 design they did not notify us of that in the

20 application

21 And secondly that also takes away the

22 innovative factor of the school If theyre

23 replicating an existing school what is innovative

24 about their charter school

25 Just briefly again with respect to that

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1 private school the application is in the name of

2 Stephen Biko Private Charter School so it is a

3 private school that is making the application

4 MS BOWEN I would just like to add that if

5 there was an application that was approved last

6 year within the past five years we would be glad

7 to go back and look if theres a name thats

8 submitted for us to do reference But when we

9 looked through all of our prior applications we

10 could find no areas where there was similar an

11 exact model of an approved application that had

12 already been approved by the district

13 But to respond to point one as far as the

14 guiding principle section the mission statement

15 was general it was vague and it did not describe

16 meaningful or measurable priority It

17 inefficiently defines the values of the school and

18 was inconsistent with the appellants subsequent

19 educational program plan The question of the

20 guidance embedded within question one clearly says

21 that it should explain what the school intends to

22 do for whom and to what degree And I failed to

23 be able to fully answer all of those questions by

24 reading the statement

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Were going to have a QampA

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1 session so what were going to do now is let me

2 ask the Commission members do you have any

3 questions

4 MS BRUBAKER I would like to hear how

5 you -shy

6 DR MYERS Me

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes Dr Myers How you plan

8 on taking those low performing students to be able

9 to do dual enrollment or AP classes

10 DR MYERS Well first of all as those

11 students arrive in the school various testing

12 will be done on those students TABE testing also

13 WRAT4 testing and various things We would look

14 at the matrix of where the kid came from

15 We have a child now that came to us Georgia

16 from one of the schools in Georgia where he was

17 functioning at a lower level The WRAT4 which is

18 designed to motivate the child and test the child

19 TABE test then we get a matrix from that and we

20 set a curriculum for -- excuse me -- we set the

21 curriculum for the child give the child

22 appropriate courses that the child has already

23 taken or retake again

24 So we move the child in small groups which

25 would be one-on-one learning or it could be group

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1 learning activities The chairs in the classroom

2 are set up and a table where one to one and one to

3 one where the child can model the other child and

4 move forward

5 The APEX curriculum which is used in Duval

6 County Public Schools they just finished using

7 the APEX curriculum in one of their failing

8 schools which moved -- increased the grade two

9 grades -- I think one or two grades at Andrew

10 Jackson High School They have the APEX They

11 have several schools in Duval County thats using

12 the APEX curriculum So its a Florida curriculum

13 that is being used

14 As they expressed the application -- when I

15 looked at the application since I was using the

16 APEX curriculum I said okay why not modify this

17 and put it back into context where its being

18 used So what were doing is we just wrote the

19 application in regards to what they wanted They

20 wanted APEX We put the APEX in there Its a

21 proven fact that its successful in their public

22 schools

23 MS ALEXANDER Can you answer her questions

24 I think which is how you are going to move the low

25 learners up to eventually taking the AP test

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1 DR MYERS Right Im sorry I know I only

2 have a few more minutes or a few seconds But

3 eventually as they progress in each area in math

4 science social studies then we test again So

5 we test at the beginning test at the end

6 And as they -- at the midterm level it tells

7 us whether or not theyre going to be remediated

8 in the course or move forward As they move

9 forward we get the curriculum more rigorous again

10 for them and the next course which is in line so

11 basically one on one and group learning is

12 efficient for them Theyre going to have to take

13 the same courses but if theyre testing at lower

14 levels thats where the individualized

15 instruction will help them

16 Did I answer it

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

18 respond to that

19 MR McDUFFIE Ms Bowen would like to

20 respond But I just want to make it also clear

21 that that -- what was just explained verbally is

22 not in the application

23 MS BOWEN The APEX curriculum is about a

24 curriculum for a set population of students as

25 well as the TABE Assessment they test and measure

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1 students basic skills The expectation under the

2 Common Core the FCAT 20 far exceeds that

3 curriculum And yes we have used it with some

4 of our most lowest performing students and Andrew

5 Jackson did make some gains but they still have

6 19 percent of their students are reading

7 proficiently

8 So my concern is with that curriculum I know

9 that there is something that you needed to have a

10 better indication that was going to provide the

11 teacher with a clear pathway of how to meet those

12 gaps By giving me an assessment thats only

13 measuring my minimum skills it does not

14 demonstrate the expectation of the Lexile level

15 thats required for a college entrance And on

16 Page 39 of his application it clearly states for

17 students who are interested in pre-med coursework

18 The expectation for reading cannot be

19 provided with the diagnosis information that you

20 get with a TABE Assessment or an APEX curriculum

21 Page 10 -- Im sorry I said Page 39 its stuck

22 in my head for some reason -- but on Page 10 it

23 talks about pre-med students and the other

24 innovative -- because thats what hes saying

25 its one of the innovative factors of this

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1 program

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you Are there other

3 questions from the Commission members

4 MS BRADLEY I have a question

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Verdya

6 MS BRADLEY My question is for the school

7 the applicant Is this a solely online program

8 DR MYERS No maam Its basically online

9 and direct instruction

10 MS BRADLEY Do you discuss direct

11 instruction in here

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY The reason that I ask that

14 question is the questions in the application asks

15 specifically for a description of the curriculum

16 a description of the reading program And in your

17 responses your responses pretty much tie back to

18 the APEX curriculum so it appears that it is

19 solely reliant on And then all of the

20 documentation that you gave was from the APEX

21 program So I was just wondering is it just

22 solely online

23 DR MYERS The majority of it but theres a

24 piece where the direct instruction is in place

25 with the child because the children are culled

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1 out for the particular course learning for the

2 subject area that theyre doing The regular

3 curriculum comes in -- the APEX Lexile learning

4 comes in Everything is designed where its

5 implemented on the laptop for the child If the

6 child needs direct instruction the child is

7 culled out into an environment where he or she

8 receives the one-on-one instruction

9 MS BRADLEY Did you discuss that in here

10 DR MYERS Im pretty sure I did

11 MS ALEXANDER What page are you looking at

12 for these

13 MS BRADLEY Well it kind of goes back and

14 forth It starts on Page 16 where it starts

15 talking about the educational program and then it

16 gives me probably about 20 30 pages on APEX and

17 then it goes into the reading curriculum But Im

18 not seeing anywhere where theres any supplement

19 to that

20 Because even the question on Page 16 was

21 Describe the proposed reading or educational

22 program it sort of goes through elements of the

23 APEX program Then on Page 68 it says Describe

24 the reading curriculum

25 DR MYERS Yes maam If you look at

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1 the -shy

2 MS HITCHCOCK Stand up please

3 DR MYERS Im sorry

4 CHAIRMAN CHU If you could come to the mic

5 that would be very helpful because our court

6 reporter is trying to get it all down

7 DR MYERS Im sorry The bullet there

8 says Direct instruction individual and small

9 group instruction led by highly-qualified

10 teachers

11 MS ESPOSITO Say the page

12 MS BRADLEY Thats on Page 16 But its

13 just part of the -- its sort of an isolated

14 bullet but it doesnt explain it any further than

15 that You know it doesnt tell me that there is

16 going to be a pull-out portion

17 DR MYERS Right But as I stated I just

18 put a little piece in there because thats just a

19 little piece of the curriculum and thats why I

20 just mentioned a little piece of it there The

21 majority of it is an online based curriculum

22 MS HODGENS I have a question for the

23 school

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

25 MS HODGENS I am confused on the targeted

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1 population Im trying to get it on the motion

2 sheet so Im going to go to targeted population

3 first And I am a little confused on it because I

4 can read what you say on Page 12 And on Page 12

5 you talk about being open to all students and

6 then you talk about low-performing students and

7 then you go back to all students

8 And then when I go to Page 41 the curriculum

9 design you talk about students needing credit

10 recovery And then I continue on and I see AP

11 courses honor courses And again I dont want

12 to allude that I dont believe that kids can do

13 those courses but I want to understand what

14 population youre really looking at

15 DR MYERS Were looking at all students

16 within that demographic And within the

17 demographics it is a lower level You have lower

18 level one level two basically they are coming

19 from the downtown sector area within that 5-mile

20 radius area of the downtown

21 So when I say all students because a

22 charter school cannot deny a student from applying

23 or coming in all students are accepted if they

24 can meet transportation needs to come to school

25 So as I expressed to you thats what

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1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

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22

1 do and what they will experience as they are

2 attending that institution meaning that I should

3 have an understanding of the applicant And the

4 applicant was real clear that he wanted to

5 provide the whole child and provide that

6 experience

7 But it didnt give me a clear understanding

8 or the reviewers upon my team about the

9 structure how the things that were identified

10 were truly going to support and guide teachers

11 decisions to make sure theyre meeting the

12 standards of the NGSS and the Common Core and

13 ultimately graduating

14 The application was indistinguishable between

15 the targeted population because at one point it

16 talked about at-risk students from a particular

17 5-mile geographic dynamics and then it said all

18 students no matter what according to the

19 standard of expectation

20 The applicant briefly described a pre-med

21 program a dual enrollment advanced placement

22 classes And the appeal reiterated the error by

23 describing instructional programs and learning

24 strategies but they failed to provide a clear

25 picture as to how you were going to take

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1 struggling students or any student to that

2 advanced and rigorous curriculum

3 And as we can say that the standard requires

4 the application to explain not only what the

5 school is going to teach but how they were going

6 to teach it I was continually searching which

7 Im not required to do throughout the entire

8 application to see how was this instruction going

9 to be -- what is that child going to experience on

10 a daily basis And it was very unclear

11 Statute 100233 also states that the charter

12 application must have a detailed curriculum plan

13 a curriculum plan not a curriculum resource a

14 plan for instruction that illustrates how those

15 students are going to be provided services to meet

16 those graduation requirements We are in the

17 business of graduating students

18 So the application also didnt provide a very

19 clear reading curriculum They referenced the

20 Just Read Florida Website which Im very happy

21 that they were there supporting but it is a

22 resource document it does not outline a

23 curriculum plan And unfortunately -- and Im

24 saying this in this building -- it really only

25 sports primary education When you get towards

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1 secondary the resources become very limited And

2 I know theyre working on that

3 So the statute requires that we deny the

4 application on the fact that the reading

5 curriculum plan was not sufficient at all

6 Another key issue that was concerning which

7 led to a good cause denial of the application was

8 that a risk of students not being prepared for the

9 FCAT Because they identified assessments which

10 Im very familiar with failed to have the

11 measuring tools that would guide teacher

12 instruction in being able to support deficiencies

13 or make accommodations or get those students ready

14 for that you know accelerated dual enrollment

15 advanced AP or pre-med curriculum

16 Im going to wrap it up because I know

17 everybody is ready to go When we talk about our

18 ELL students and we are doing a lot within our

19 districts to better support all students there

20 was really -- I struggled with finding out how the

21 students were going to enter our school And an

22 ELL student is just one designation because you

23 can have an ELL student that also has an ESE

24 designation and has some little deficiencies in

25 particular other areas

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1 There was no -- they failed to demonstrate

2 how they were going to make choices of selecting

3 the appropriate materials to meet the needs of all

4 students

5 To say we will select resources but there

6 was no clear indication of how those decisions

7 would be made The assessments didnt provide

8 that detailed information to guide that choice so

9 upon that there was no reason but to have a good

10 cause for denial

11 MS HEINEY Good afternoon My name is

12 Angela Heiney H-e-i-n-e-y and I reviewed the

13 business plan for the applicant As an overview

14 the entire business plan did not meet the standard

15 with the exception of the transportation which

16 only partially met the standard

17 There were quite a few reasons that we found

18 for this The biggest -- there were statutory

19 failures all over the place 100233(6)(a)5

20 states that there has to be an annual financial

21 plan based on projected revenues and expenditures

22 What we found is that the revenues and

23 expenditures provided were unsubstantiated

24 unsupported and there was missing money all over

25 the place For example on Page 107 the

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1 applicant states theyre going to take out

2 $500000 in loans to fund their startup however

3 if you look at their five-year business plan

4 there is no repayment for those loans And they

5 provided absolutely no correspondence from any

6 lending institution that says theyre willing to

7 give half a million dollars and not expect a penny

8 back for over five years In this current

9 economic climate that rarely if ever happens

10 Ive never seen it

11 The application and the denial or the

12 response to the denial that was filed -- the

13 notice of appeal -- there were several points that

14 were made in our denial however they never even

15 discussed those

16 For example the application specifically

17 states that they plan on contracting out HR and

18 accounting services however they dont know how

19 much it is so they didnt even include that in

20 their budget For some of our schools that is

21 thousands and thousands of dollars a year just

22 missing

23 Theres inconsistencies Mr Whitaker just

24 stated that the City of Jacksonville has not

25 promised the money However Page 104 states that

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1 they have a verbal commitment There is no

2 evidence of any commitment no letters from former

3 Mayor Delaney no letters from current Mayor

4 Browns office anybody even suggesting that they

5 know who this school is and that theyre willing

6 to support it

7 A second statutory failing occurs again in

8 (6)(a)5 where it states that the application must

9 have a description of controls that safeguard

10 financing

11 During the general help session the

12 applicants were told they must give detailed

13 procedures on certain areas Why Because these

14 are the areas that consistently have fraud

15 errors thefts mistakes We dont like to

16 believe that will happen at schools but frankly

17 bad things do happen

18 They were told you must have accounts

19 payables accounts receivables cash management

20 payroll those areas Why This is where weve

21 seen problems happen There was nothing There

22 was some general policy given on Pages 113 and 14

23 And they state on Page 113 there will be

24 implementation of many internal financial

25 controls however that is not a description of

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1 controls which is what is mandated by the

2 statute

3 Another failing occurs on Statute 21839

4 This statute mandates the use of an independent

5 certified public account for performing annual

6 financial reporting so the audited financial

7 statements which are required

8 In Attachment 7 it states that the same

9 person providing accounting services will also

10 perform the auditing services According to the

11 American Institute of CPAs this is actually a

12 violation of independence and an ethics violation

13 itself So anybody who is willing to do both is

14 not by statute an independent auditor And they

15 have stated in their application thats what

16 theyre going to do

17 When you see one statutory violation that is

18 certainly competent and substantial evidence for

19 denial When you see at least three just in one

20 section now were getting overwhelming grounds

21 for denial

22 But we also saw areas in the facilities where

23 they simply state that they will meet statute

24 Saying youre going to meet statute is not the

25 same as explaining what youre going to do

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1 Theyre stating in their financials that theyre

2 going to have $3 million worth of renovations

3 What on earth are you going to do for $3 million

4 Mr Whitaker stated that the building is just

5 a shell However the application states that it

6 is currently being in use by a daycare for the

7 Urban League So whats going on Theres no

8 consistency between whats being said whats

9 being done in the application

10 In that stance we do not make assumptions

11 We must go with what is written So any verbal

12 statements we cant justify that because all we

13 can hold the applicant to is what has been written

14 in that document

15 We have a problem with food service They

16 state that theyre not going to use NSLP and

17 theyre going to contract a vendor which is

18 perfectly acceptable except their target

19 population is going to be children that are at

20 risk Specifically this is a very high population

21 of children who will qualify for free and reduced

22 lunch What about the kids that cant pay for

23 their food what are they going to do all day in

24 class We cant starve children thats wrong

25 Theres no money in the budget for -shy

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

2 MS HEINEY Im sorry

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

4 MS HEINEY Theres no money in the budget

5 for food so theres no money theres no plan

6 And this is an area that has direct effect on

7 health and well-being of the children

8 The action plan that they gave is completely

9 unrealistic and does not meet up against their

10 academic standards For example they state that

11 theyre going to use Achieve 3000 Achieve 3000

12 is a difficult product to use It does require

13 training

14 And the startup budget and the statement of

15 cash flow is there is no money whatsoever for

16 teacher training So are these teachers supposed

17 to walk in on their first day knowing how to use

18 it The action plan says theres going to be

19 training but theres no money for it so how are

20 you going do it As I said theres quite a bit

21 of reasons And if you have any questions we

22 would be more than happy to respond

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay This takes us to

24 Issue 1 whether the applicant failed to comply

25 with the educational plan regarding guiding

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1 principles target population educational program

2 design curriculum plan student performance

3 assessment and evaluation exceptional students

4 and English language learners

5 So the school if you want to have a couple

6 of minutes to speak directly to the educational

7 plan and then well give the district the same

8 amount of time

9 MS ALEXANDER Sure With respect to the

10 mission statement we believe that the denial was

11 not supported by competent substantial evidence in

12 any way For example the School Board alleges

13 that we didnt provide an adequate mission

14 statement or describe how the school utilizes

15 guiding principles

16 As you can kind of get the sense from hearing

17 Dr Myers hes got a pretty sophisticated sense

18 of mission And with respect to the mission

19 statement the application specifically says on

20 Page 4 The mission statement of the charter high

21 school is to provide an exemplary personalized

22 learning program in a supportive resource rich

23 contemporary learning environment Stephen Biko

24 Charter High School is dedicated to excellence and

25 committed to nurturing passionate lifelong

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1 learners

2 It also says that The school will meet the

3 high standards of student achievement by

4 supporting positive academic outcomes for students

5 by addressing the academic social economical -shy

6 Im sorry -- emotional and behavioral needs of

7 enrolled students And it says that High

8 standards will be evident which will offer parents

9 and guardians of students currently attending the

10 elementary and charter schools of Duval County the

11 flexibility to choose the school

12 So our view is that if you actually look at

13 the application there is a specific mission its

14 very clear and in fact weve met the standard

15 Just as an aside there was a reference to a

16 private school cant be a charter school

17 Dr Myers started the private school on donations

18 alone in the interim because he wanted to try to

19 start offering education to the average students

20 as quickly as possible He consulted with the DOE

21 and was told that in fact he could open up the

22 school and that if the charter is granted he

23 could transition from the private school into the

24 charter model so there isnt any prohibition

25 against how hes doing it

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1 But our view is if you look at the

2 application there is a clear mission its

3 outlined there and it did meet the standard So

4 thank you

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

6 District

7 DR MYERS Can I

8 CHAIRMAN CHU You have about 30 seconds

9 DR MYERS Thank you I contacted the

10 Department of Education and they expressed to me

11 that I have to close the school and once I close

12 the school every child has to apply So that was

13 done prior to opening up the private school

14 As they stated theres nowhere in that

15 application where it states (inaudible) So all

16 of these things are preposterous in what theyre

17 saying and its just things that theyre trying

18 to elaborate to make the application look bad

19 As I expressed to you Board members this

20 application was approved similar last year It

21 was the exact application So everything that

22 shes coming up with and all three of them does

23 not make sense it does not It does not weigh

24 this application God knows it does not And

25 they cannot give you sufficient reasons why

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1 Thats why they come in with all of these

2 fictitious false allegations against this

3 application Thats all theyre doing They

4 approved this application last year they did

5 And thats all Im asking for

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right District

7 MR McDUFFIE Just briefly and I will turn

8 the mic over to Ms Bowen

9 This is the second time youve heard that

10 there was a mirror application from last year I

11 would like to ask the Commission to go to Page 39

12 of the application There is a specific provision

13 in the application which says if the school

14 intends to replicate an existing school design

15 you are supposed to notify the district under E

16 and F in that section

17 In their application that section is blank

18 okay So they are replicating an existing school

19 design they did not notify us of that in the

20 application

21 And secondly that also takes away the

22 innovative factor of the school If theyre

23 replicating an existing school what is innovative

24 about their charter school

25 Just briefly again with respect to that

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1 private school the application is in the name of

2 Stephen Biko Private Charter School so it is a

3 private school that is making the application

4 MS BOWEN I would just like to add that if

5 there was an application that was approved last

6 year within the past five years we would be glad

7 to go back and look if theres a name thats

8 submitted for us to do reference But when we

9 looked through all of our prior applications we

10 could find no areas where there was similar an

11 exact model of an approved application that had

12 already been approved by the district

13 But to respond to point one as far as the

14 guiding principle section the mission statement

15 was general it was vague and it did not describe

16 meaningful or measurable priority It

17 inefficiently defines the values of the school and

18 was inconsistent with the appellants subsequent

19 educational program plan The question of the

20 guidance embedded within question one clearly says

21 that it should explain what the school intends to

22 do for whom and to what degree And I failed to

23 be able to fully answer all of those questions by

24 reading the statement

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Were going to have a QampA

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1 session so what were going to do now is let me

2 ask the Commission members do you have any

3 questions

4 MS BRUBAKER I would like to hear how

5 you -shy

6 DR MYERS Me

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes Dr Myers How you plan

8 on taking those low performing students to be able

9 to do dual enrollment or AP classes

10 DR MYERS Well first of all as those

11 students arrive in the school various testing

12 will be done on those students TABE testing also

13 WRAT4 testing and various things We would look

14 at the matrix of where the kid came from

15 We have a child now that came to us Georgia

16 from one of the schools in Georgia where he was

17 functioning at a lower level The WRAT4 which is

18 designed to motivate the child and test the child

19 TABE test then we get a matrix from that and we

20 set a curriculum for -- excuse me -- we set the

21 curriculum for the child give the child

22 appropriate courses that the child has already

23 taken or retake again

24 So we move the child in small groups which

25 would be one-on-one learning or it could be group

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1 learning activities The chairs in the classroom

2 are set up and a table where one to one and one to

3 one where the child can model the other child and

4 move forward

5 The APEX curriculum which is used in Duval

6 County Public Schools they just finished using

7 the APEX curriculum in one of their failing

8 schools which moved -- increased the grade two

9 grades -- I think one or two grades at Andrew

10 Jackson High School They have the APEX They

11 have several schools in Duval County thats using

12 the APEX curriculum So its a Florida curriculum

13 that is being used

14 As they expressed the application -- when I

15 looked at the application since I was using the

16 APEX curriculum I said okay why not modify this

17 and put it back into context where its being

18 used So what were doing is we just wrote the

19 application in regards to what they wanted They

20 wanted APEX We put the APEX in there Its a

21 proven fact that its successful in their public

22 schools

23 MS ALEXANDER Can you answer her questions

24 I think which is how you are going to move the low

25 learners up to eventually taking the AP test

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1 DR MYERS Right Im sorry I know I only

2 have a few more minutes or a few seconds But

3 eventually as they progress in each area in math

4 science social studies then we test again So

5 we test at the beginning test at the end

6 And as they -- at the midterm level it tells

7 us whether or not theyre going to be remediated

8 in the course or move forward As they move

9 forward we get the curriculum more rigorous again

10 for them and the next course which is in line so

11 basically one on one and group learning is

12 efficient for them Theyre going to have to take

13 the same courses but if theyre testing at lower

14 levels thats where the individualized

15 instruction will help them

16 Did I answer it

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

18 respond to that

19 MR McDUFFIE Ms Bowen would like to

20 respond But I just want to make it also clear

21 that that -- what was just explained verbally is

22 not in the application

23 MS BOWEN The APEX curriculum is about a

24 curriculum for a set population of students as

25 well as the TABE Assessment they test and measure

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1 students basic skills The expectation under the

2 Common Core the FCAT 20 far exceeds that

3 curriculum And yes we have used it with some

4 of our most lowest performing students and Andrew

5 Jackson did make some gains but they still have

6 19 percent of their students are reading

7 proficiently

8 So my concern is with that curriculum I know

9 that there is something that you needed to have a

10 better indication that was going to provide the

11 teacher with a clear pathway of how to meet those

12 gaps By giving me an assessment thats only

13 measuring my minimum skills it does not

14 demonstrate the expectation of the Lexile level

15 thats required for a college entrance And on

16 Page 39 of his application it clearly states for

17 students who are interested in pre-med coursework

18 The expectation for reading cannot be

19 provided with the diagnosis information that you

20 get with a TABE Assessment or an APEX curriculum

21 Page 10 -- Im sorry I said Page 39 its stuck

22 in my head for some reason -- but on Page 10 it

23 talks about pre-med students and the other

24 innovative -- because thats what hes saying

25 its one of the innovative factors of this

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1 program

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you Are there other

3 questions from the Commission members

4 MS BRADLEY I have a question

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Verdya

6 MS BRADLEY My question is for the school

7 the applicant Is this a solely online program

8 DR MYERS No maam Its basically online

9 and direct instruction

10 MS BRADLEY Do you discuss direct

11 instruction in here

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY The reason that I ask that

14 question is the questions in the application asks

15 specifically for a description of the curriculum

16 a description of the reading program And in your

17 responses your responses pretty much tie back to

18 the APEX curriculum so it appears that it is

19 solely reliant on And then all of the

20 documentation that you gave was from the APEX

21 program So I was just wondering is it just

22 solely online

23 DR MYERS The majority of it but theres a

24 piece where the direct instruction is in place

25 with the child because the children are culled

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1 out for the particular course learning for the

2 subject area that theyre doing The regular

3 curriculum comes in -- the APEX Lexile learning

4 comes in Everything is designed where its

5 implemented on the laptop for the child If the

6 child needs direct instruction the child is

7 culled out into an environment where he or she

8 receives the one-on-one instruction

9 MS BRADLEY Did you discuss that in here

10 DR MYERS Im pretty sure I did

11 MS ALEXANDER What page are you looking at

12 for these

13 MS BRADLEY Well it kind of goes back and

14 forth It starts on Page 16 where it starts

15 talking about the educational program and then it

16 gives me probably about 20 30 pages on APEX and

17 then it goes into the reading curriculum But Im

18 not seeing anywhere where theres any supplement

19 to that

20 Because even the question on Page 16 was

21 Describe the proposed reading or educational

22 program it sort of goes through elements of the

23 APEX program Then on Page 68 it says Describe

24 the reading curriculum

25 DR MYERS Yes maam If you look at

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1 the -shy

2 MS HITCHCOCK Stand up please

3 DR MYERS Im sorry

4 CHAIRMAN CHU If you could come to the mic

5 that would be very helpful because our court

6 reporter is trying to get it all down

7 DR MYERS Im sorry The bullet there

8 says Direct instruction individual and small

9 group instruction led by highly-qualified

10 teachers

11 MS ESPOSITO Say the page

12 MS BRADLEY Thats on Page 16 But its

13 just part of the -- its sort of an isolated

14 bullet but it doesnt explain it any further than

15 that You know it doesnt tell me that there is

16 going to be a pull-out portion

17 DR MYERS Right But as I stated I just

18 put a little piece in there because thats just a

19 little piece of the curriculum and thats why I

20 just mentioned a little piece of it there The

21 majority of it is an online based curriculum

22 MS HODGENS I have a question for the

23 school

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

25 MS HODGENS I am confused on the targeted

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1 population Im trying to get it on the motion

2 sheet so Im going to go to targeted population

3 first And I am a little confused on it because I

4 can read what you say on Page 12 And on Page 12

5 you talk about being open to all students and

6 then you talk about low-performing students and

7 then you go back to all students

8 And then when I go to Page 41 the curriculum

9 design you talk about students needing credit

10 recovery And then I continue on and I see AP

11 courses honor courses And again I dont want

12 to allude that I dont believe that kids can do

13 those courses but I want to understand what

14 population youre really looking at

15 DR MYERS Were looking at all students

16 within that demographic And within the

17 demographics it is a lower level You have lower

18 level one level two basically they are coming

19 from the downtown sector area within that 5-mile

20 radius area of the downtown

21 So when I say all students because a

22 charter school cannot deny a student from applying

23 or coming in all students are accepted if they

24 can meet transportation needs to come to school

25 So as I expressed to you thats what

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1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

Page 23: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

23

1 struggling students or any student to that

2 advanced and rigorous curriculum

3 And as we can say that the standard requires

4 the application to explain not only what the

5 school is going to teach but how they were going

6 to teach it I was continually searching which

7 Im not required to do throughout the entire

8 application to see how was this instruction going

9 to be -- what is that child going to experience on

10 a daily basis And it was very unclear

11 Statute 100233 also states that the charter

12 application must have a detailed curriculum plan

13 a curriculum plan not a curriculum resource a

14 plan for instruction that illustrates how those

15 students are going to be provided services to meet

16 those graduation requirements We are in the

17 business of graduating students

18 So the application also didnt provide a very

19 clear reading curriculum They referenced the

20 Just Read Florida Website which Im very happy

21 that they were there supporting but it is a

22 resource document it does not outline a

23 curriculum plan And unfortunately -- and Im

24 saying this in this building -- it really only

25 sports primary education When you get towards

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1 secondary the resources become very limited And

2 I know theyre working on that

3 So the statute requires that we deny the

4 application on the fact that the reading

5 curriculum plan was not sufficient at all

6 Another key issue that was concerning which

7 led to a good cause denial of the application was

8 that a risk of students not being prepared for the

9 FCAT Because they identified assessments which

10 Im very familiar with failed to have the

11 measuring tools that would guide teacher

12 instruction in being able to support deficiencies

13 or make accommodations or get those students ready

14 for that you know accelerated dual enrollment

15 advanced AP or pre-med curriculum

16 Im going to wrap it up because I know

17 everybody is ready to go When we talk about our

18 ELL students and we are doing a lot within our

19 districts to better support all students there

20 was really -- I struggled with finding out how the

21 students were going to enter our school And an

22 ELL student is just one designation because you

23 can have an ELL student that also has an ESE

24 designation and has some little deficiencies in

25 particular other areas

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1 There was no -- they failed to demonstrate

2 how they were going to make choices of selecting

3 the appropriate materials to meet the needs of all

4 students

5 To say we will select resources but there

6 was no clear indication of how those decisions

7 would be made The assessments didnt provide

8 that detailed information to guide that choice so

9 upon that there was no reason but to have a good

10 cause for denial

11 MS HEINEY Good afternoon My name is

12 Angela Heiney H-e-i-n-e-y and I reviewed the

13 business plan for the applicant As an overview

14 the entire business plan did not meet the standard

15 with the exception of the transportation which

16 only partially met the standard

17 There were quite a few reasons that we found

18 for this The biggest -- there were statutory

19 failures all over the place 100233(6)(a)5

20 states that there has to be an annual financial

21 plan based on projected revenues and expenditures

22 What we found is that the revenues and

23 expenditures provided were unsubstantiated

24 unsupported and there was missing money all over

25 the place For example on Page 107 the

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1 applicant states theyre going to take out

2 $500000 in loans to fund their startup however

3 if you look at their five-year business plan

4 there is no repayment for those loans And they

5 provided absolutely no correspondence from any

6 lending institution that says theyre willing to

7 give half a million dollars and not expect a penny

8 back for over five years In this current

9 economic climate that rarely if ever happens

10 Ive never seen it

11 The application and the denial or the

12 response to the denial that was filed -- the

13 notice of appeal -- there were several points that

14 were made in our denial however they never even

15 discussed those

16 For example the application specifically

17 states that they plan on contracting out HR and

18 accounting services however they dont know how

19 much it is so they didnt even include that in

20 their budget For some of our schools that is

21 thousands and thousands of dollars a year just

22 missing

23 Theres inconsistencies Mr Whitaker just

24 stated that the City of Jacksonville has not

25 promised the money However Page 104 states that

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1 they have a verbal commitment There is no

2 evidence of any commitment no letters from former

3 Mayor Delaney no letters from current Mayor

4 Browns office anybody even suggesting that they

5 know who this school is and that theyre willing

6 to support it

7 A second statutory failing occurs again in

8 (6)(a)5 where it states that the application must

9 have a description of controls that safeguard

10 financing

11 During the general help session the

12 applicants were told they must give detailed

13 procedures on certain areas Why Because these

14 are the areas that consistently have fraud

15 errors thefts mistakes We dont like to

16 believe that will happen at schools but frankly

17 bad things do happen

18 They were told you must have accounts

19 payables accounts receivables cash management

20 payroll those areas Why This is where weve

21 seen problems happen There was nothing There

22 was some general policy given on Pages 113 and 14

23 And they state on Page 113 there will be

24 implementation of many internal financial

25 controls however that is not a description of

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1 controls which is what is mandated by the

2 statute

3 Another failing occurs on Statute 21839

4 This statute mandates the use of an independent

5 certified public account for performing annual

6 financial reporting so the audited financial

7 statements which are required

8 In Attachment 7 it states that the same

9 person providing accounting services will also

10 perform the auditing services According to the

11 American Institute of CPAs this is actually a

12 violation of independence and an ethics violation

13 itself So anybody who is willing to do both is

14 not by statute an independent auditor And they

15 have stated in their application thats what

16 theyre going to do

17 When you see one statutory violation that is

18 certainly competent and substantial evidence for

19 denial When you see at least three just in one

20 section now were getting overwhelming grounds

21 for denial

22 But we also saw areas in the facilities where

23 they simply state that they will meet statute

24 Saying youre going to meet statute is not the

25 same as explaining what youre going to do

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1 Theyre stating in their financials that theyre

2 going to have $3 million worth of renovations

3 What on earth are you going to do for $3 million

4 Mr Whitaker stated that the building is just

5 a shell However the application states that it

6 is currently being in use by a daycare for the

7 Urban League So whats going on Theres no

8 consistency between whats being said whats

9 being done in the application

10 In that stance we do not make assumptions

11 We must go with what is written So any verbal

12 statements we cant justify that because all we

13 can hold the applicant to is what has been written

14 in that document

15 We have a problem with food service They

16 state that theyre not going to use NSLP and

17 theyre going to contract a vendor which is

18 perfectly acceptable except their target

19 population is going to be children that are at

20 risk Specifically this is a very high population

21 of children who will qualify for free and reduced

22 lunch What about the kids that cant pay for

23 their food what are they going to do all day in

24 class We cant starve children thats wrong

25 Theres no money in the budget for -shy

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

2 MS HEINEY Im sorry

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

4 MS HEINEY Theres no money in the budget

5 for food so theres no money theres no plan

6 And this is an area that has direct effect on

7 health and well-being of the children

8 The action plan that they gave is completely

9 unrealistic and does not meet up against their

10 academic standards For example they state that

11 theyre going to use Achieve 3000 Achieve 3000

12 is a difficult product to use It does require

13 training

14 And the startup budget and the statement of

15 cash flow is there is no money whatsoever for

16 teacher training So are these teachers supposed

17 to walk in on their first day knowing how to use

18 it The action plan says theres going to be

19 training but theres no money for it so how are

20 you going do it As I said theres quite a bit

21 of reasons And if you have any questions we

22 would be more than happy to respond

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay This takes us to

24 Issue 1 whether the applicant failed to comply

25 with the educational plan regarding guiding

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1 principles target population educational program

2 design curriculum plan student performance

3 assessment and evaluation exceptional students

4 and English language learners

5 So the school if you want to have a couple

6 of minutes to speak directly to the educational

7 plan and then well give the district the same

8 amount of time

9 MS ALEXANDER Sure With respect to the

10 mission statement we believe that the denial was

11 not supported by competent substantial evidence in

12 any way For example the School Board alleges

13 that we didnt provide an adequate mission

14 statement or describe how the school utilizes

15 guiding principles

16 As you can kind of get the sense from hearing

17 Dr Myers hes got a pretty sophisticated sense

18 of mission And with respect to the mission

19 statement the application specifically says on

20 Page 4 The mission statement of the charter high

21 school is to provide an exemplary personalized

22 learning program in a supportive resource rich

23 contemporary learning environment Stephen Biko

24 Charter High School is dedicated to excellence and

25 committed to nurturing passionate lifelong

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1 learners

2 It also says that The school will meet the

3 high standards of student achievement by

4 supporting positive academic outcomes for students

5 by addressing the academic social economical -shy

6 Im sorry -- emotional and behavioral needs of

7 enrolled students And it says that High

8 standards will be evident which will offer parents

9 and guardians of students currently attending the

10 elementary and charter schools of Duval County the

11 flexibility to choose the school

12 So our view is that if you actually look at

13 the application there is a specific mission its

14 very clear and in fact weve met the standard

15 Just as an aside there was a reference to a

16 private school cant be a charter school

17 Dr Myers started the private school on donations

18 alone in the interim because he wanted to try to

19 start offering education to the average students

20 as quickly as possible He consulted with the DOE

21 and was told that in fact he could open up the

22 school and that if the charter is granted he

23 could transition from the private school into the

24 charter model so there isnt any prohibition

25 against how hes doing it

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1 But our view is if you look at the

2 application there is a clear mission its

3 outlined there and it did meet the standard So

4 thank you

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

6 District

7 DR MYERS Can I

8 CHAIRMAN CHU You have about 30 seconds

9 DR MYERS Thank you I contacted the

10 Department of Education and they expressed to me

11 that I have to close the school and once I close

12 the school every child has to apply So that was

13 done prior to opening up the private school

14 As they stated theres nowhere in that

15 application where it states (inaudible) So all

16 of these things are preposterous in what theyre

17 saying and its just things that theyre trying

18 to elaborate to make the application look bad

19 As I expressed to you Board members this

20 application was approved similar last year It

21 was the exact application So everything that

22 shes coming up with and all three of them does

23 not make sense it does not It does not weigh

24 this application God knows it does not And

25 they cannot give you sufficient reasons why

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1 Thats why they come in with all of these

2 fictitious false allegations against this

3 application Thats all theyre doing They

4 approved this application last year they did

5 And thats all Im asking for

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right District

7 MR McDUFFIE Just briefly and I will turn

8 the mic over to Ms Bowen

9 This is the second time youve heard that

10 there was a mirror application from last year I

11 would like to ask the Commission to go to Page 39

12 of the application There is a specific provision

13 in the application which says if the school

14 intends to replicate an existing school design

15 you are supposed to notify the district under E

16 and F in that section

17 In their application that section is blank

18 okay So they are replicating an existing school

19 design they did not notify us of that in the

20 application

21 And secondly that also takes away the

22 innovative factor of the school If theyre

23 replicating an existing school what is innovative

24 about their charter school

25 Just briefly again with respect to that

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1 private school the application is in the name of

2 Stephen Biko Private Charter School so it is a

3 private school that is making the application

4 MS BOWEN I would just like to add that if

5 there was an application that was approved last

6 year within the past five years we would be glad

7 to go back and look if theres a name thats

8 submitted for us to do reference But when we

9 looked through all of our prior applications we

10 could find no areas where there was similar an

11 exact model of an approved application that had

12 already been approved by the district

13 But to respond to point one as far as the

14 guiding principle section the mission statement

15 was general it was vague and it did not describe

16 meaningful or measurable priority It

17 inefficiently defines the values of the school and

18 was inconsistent with the appellants subsequent

19 educational program plan The question of the

20 guidance embedded within question one clearly says

21 that it should explain what the school intends to

22 do for whom and to what degree And I failed to

23 be able to fully answer all of those questions by

24 reading the statement

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Were going to have a QampA

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1 session so what were going to do now is let me

2 ask the Commission members do you have any

3 questions

4 MS BRUBAKER I would like to hear how

5 you -shy

6 DR MYERS Me

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes Dr Myers How you plan

8 on taking those low performing students to be able

9 to do dual enrollment or AP classes

10 DR MYERS Well first of all as those

11 students arrive in the school various testing

12 will be done on those students TABE testing also

13 WRAT4 testing and various things We would look

14 at the matrix of where the kid came from

15 We have a child now that came to us Georgia

16 from one of the schools in Georgia where he was

17 functioning at a lower level The WRAT4 which is

18 designed to motivate the child and test the child

19 TABE test then we get a matrix from that and we

20 set a curriculum for -- excuse me -- we set the

21 curriculum for the child give the child

22 appropriate courses that the child has already

23 taken or retake again

24 So we move the child in small groups which

25 would be one-on-one learning or it could be group

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1 learning activities The chairs in the classroom

2 are set up and a table where one to one and one to

3 one where the child can model the other child and

4 move forward

5 The APEX curriculum which is used in Duval

6 County Public Schools they just finished using

7 the APEX curriculum in one of their failing

8 schools which moved -- increased the grade two

9 grades -- I think one or two grades at Andrew

10 Jackson High School They have the APEX They

11 have several schools in Duval County thats using

12 the APEX curriculum So its a Florida curriculum

13 that is being used

14 As they expressed the application -- when I

15 looked at the application since I was using the

16 APEX curriculum I said okay why not modify this

17 and put it back into context where its being

18 used So what were doing is we just wrote the

19 application in regards to what they wanted They

20 wanted APEX We put the APEX in there Its a

21 proven fact that its successful in their public

22 schools

23 MS ALEXANDER Can you answer her questions

24 I think which is how you are going to move the low

25 learners up to eventually taking the AP test

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1 DR MYERS Right Im sorry I know I only

2 have a few more minutes or a few seconds But

3 eventually as they progress in each area in math

4 science social studies then we test again So

5 we test at the beginning test at the end

6 And as they -- at the midterm level it tells

7 us whether or not theyre going to be remediated

8 in the course or move forward As they move

9 forward we get the curriculum more rigorous again

10 for them and the next course which is in line so

11 basically one on one and group learning is

12 efficient for them Theyre going to have to take

13 the same courses but if theyre testing at lower

14 levels thats where the individualized

15 instruction will help them

16 Did I answer it

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

18 respond to that

19 MR McDUFFIE Ms Bowen would like to

20 respond But I just want to make it also clear

21 that that -- what was just explained verbally is

22 not in the application

23 MS BOWEN The APEX curriculum is about a

24 curriculum for a set population of students as

25 well as the TABE Assessment they test and measure

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1 students basic skills The expectation under the

2 Common Core the FCAT 20 far exceeds that

3 curriculum And yes we have used it with some

4 of our most lowest performing students and Andrew

5 Jackson did make some gains but they still have

6 19 percent of their students are reading

7 proficiently

8 So my concern is with that curriculum I know

9 that there is something that you needed to have a

10 better indication that was going to provide the

11 teacher with a clear pathway of how to meet those

12 gaps By giving me an assessment thats only

13 measuring my minimum skills it does not

14 demonstrate the expectation of the Lexile level

15 thats required for a college entrance And on

16 Page 39 of his application it clearly states for

17 students who are interested in pre-med coursework

18 The expectation for reading cannot be

19 provided with the diagnosis information that you

20 get with a TABE Assessment or an APEX curriculum

21 Page 10 -- Im sorry I said Page 39 its stuck

22 in my head for some reason -- but on Page 10 it

23 talks about pre-med students and the other

24 innovative -- because thats what hes saying

25 its one of the innovative factors of this

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1 program

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you Are there other

3 questions from the Commission members

4 MS BRADLEY I have a question

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Verdya

6 MS BRADLEY My question is for the school

7 the applicant Is this a solely online program

8 DR MYERS No maam Its basically online

9 and direct instruction

10 MS BRADLEY Do you discuss direct

11 instruction in here

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY The reason that I ask that

14 question is the questions in the application asks

15 specifically for a description of the curriculum

16 a description of the reading program And in your

17 responses your responses pretty much tie back to

18 the APEX curriculum so it appears that it is

19 solely reliant on And then all of the

20 documentation that you gave was from the APEX

21 program So I was just wondering is it just

22 solely online

23 DR MYERS The majority of it but theres a

24 piece where the direct instruction is in place

25 with the child because the children are culled

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1 out for the particular course learning for the

2 subject area that theyre doing The regular

3 curriculum comes in -- the APEX Lexile learning

4 comes in Everything is designed where its

5 implemented on the laptop for the child If the

6 child needs direct instruction the child is

7 culled out into an environment where he or she

8 receives the one-on-one instruction

9 MS BRADLEY Did you discuss that in here

10 DR MYERS Im pretty sure I did

11 MS ALEXANDER What page are you looking at

12 for these

13 MS BRADLEY Well it kind of goes back and

14 forth It starts on Page 16 where it starts

15 talking about the educational program and then it

16 gives me probably about 20 30 pages on APEX and

17 then it goes into the reading curriculum But Im

18 not seeing anywhere where theres any supplement

19 to that

20 Because even the question on Page 16 was

21 Describe the proposed reading or educational

22 program it sort of goes through elements of the

23 APEX program Then on Page 68 it says Describe

24 the reading curriculum

25 DR MYERS Yes maam If you look at

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1 the -shy

2 MS HITCHCOCK Stand up please

3 DR MYERS Im sorry

4 CHAIRMAN CHU If you could come to the mic

5 that would be very helpful because our court

6 reporter is trying to get it all down

7 DR MYERS Im sorry The bullet there

8 says Direct instruction individual and small

9 group instruction led by highly-qualified

10 teachers

11 MS ESPOSITO Say the page

12 MS BRADLEY Thats on Page 16 But its

13 just part of the -- its sort of an isolated

14 bullet but it doesnt explain it any further than

15 that You know it doesnt tell me that there is

16 going to be a pull-out portion

17 DR MYERS Right But as I stated I just

18 put a little piece in there because thats just a

19 little piece of the curriculum and thats why I

20 just mentioned a little piece of it there The

21 majority of it is an online based curriculum

22 MS HODGENS I have a question for the

23 school

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

25 MS HODGENS I am confused on the targeted

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1 population Im trying to get it on the motion

2 sheet so Im going to go to targeted population

3 first And I am a little confused on it because I

4 can read what you say on Page 12 And on Page 12

5 you talk about being open to all students and

6 then you talk about low-performing students and

7 then you go back to all students

8 And then when I go to Page 41 the curriculum

9 design you talk about students needing credit

10 recovery And then I continue on and I see AP

11 courses honor courses And again I dont want

12 to allude that I dont believe that kids can do

13 those courses but I want to understand what

14 population youre really looking at

15 DR MYERS Were looking at all students

16 within that demographic And within the

17 demographics it is a lower level You have lower

18 level one level two basically they are coming

19 from the downtown sector area within that 5-mile

20 radius area of the downtown

21 So when I say all students because a

22 charter school cannot deny a student from applying

23 or coming in all students are accepted if they

24 can meet transportation needs to come to school

25 So as I expressed to you thats what

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1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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Page 24: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

24

1 secondary the resources become very limited And

2 I know theyre working on that

3 So the statute requires that we deny the

4 application on the fact that the reading

5 curriculum plan was not sufficient at all

6 Another key issue that was concerning which

7 led to a good cause denial of the application was

8 that a risk of students not being prepared for the

9 FCAT Because they identified assessments which

10 Im very familiar with failed to have the

11 measuring tools that would guide teacher

12 instruction in being able to support deficiencies

13 or make accommodations or get those students ready

14 for that you know accelerated dual enrollment

15 advanced AP or pre-med curriculum

16 Im going to wrap it up because I know

17 everybody is ready to go When we talk about our

18 ELL students and we are doing a lot within our

19 districts to better support all students there

20 was really -- I struggled with finding out how the

21 students were going to enter our school And an

22 ELL student is just one designation because you

23 can have an ELL student that also has an ESE

24 designation and has some little deficiencies in

25 particular other areas

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1 There was no -- they failed to demonstrate

2 how they were going to make choices of selecting

3 the appropriate materials to meet the needs of all

4 students

5 To say we will select resources but there

6 was no clear indication of how those decisions

7 would be made The assessments didnt provide

8 that detailed information to guide that choice so

9 upon that there was no reason but to have a good

10 cause for denial

11 MS HEINEY Good afternoon My name is

12 Angela Heiney H-e-i-n-e-y and I reviewed the

13 business plan for the applicant As an overview

14 the entire business plan did not meet the standard

15 with the exception of the transportation which

16 only partially met the standard

17 There were quite a few reasons that we found

18 for this The biggest -- there were statutory

19 failures all over the place 100233(6)(a)5

20 states that there has to be an annual financial

21 plan based on projected revenues and expenditures

22 What we found is that the revenues and

23 expenditures provided were unsubstantiated

24 unsupported and there was missing money all over

25 the place For example on Page 107 the

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1 applicant states theyre going to take out

2 $500000 in loans to fund their startup however

3 if you look at their five-year business plan

4 there is no repayment for those loans And they

5 provided absolutely no correspondence from any

6 lending institution that says theyre willing to

7 give half a million dollars and not expect a penny

8 back for over five years In this current

9 economic climate that rarely if ever happens

10 Ive never seen it

11 The application and the denial or the

12 response to the denial that was filed -- the

13 notice of appeal -- there were several points that

14 were made in our denial however they never even

15 discussed those

16 For example the application specifically

17 states that they plan on contracting out HR and

18 accounting services however they dont know how

19 much it is so they didnt even include that in

20 their budget For some of our schools that is

21 thousands and thousands of dollars a year just

22 missing

23 Theres inconsistencies Mr Whitaker just

24 stated that the City of Jacksonville has not

25 promised the money However Page 104 states that

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1 they have a verbal commitment There is no

2 evidence of any commitment no letters from former

3 Mayor Delaney no letters from current Mayor

4 Browns office anybody even suggesting that they

5 know who this school is and that theyre willing

6 to support it

7 A second statutory failing occurs again in

8 (6)(a)5 where it states that the application must

9 have a description of controls that safeguard

10 financing

11 During the general help session the

12 applicants were told they must give detailed

13 procedures on certain areas Why Because these

14 are the areas that consistently have fraud

15 errors thefts mistakes We dont like to

16 believe that will happen at schools but frankly

17 bad things do happen

18 They were told you must have accounts

19 payables accounts receivables cash management

20 payroll those areas Why This is where weve

21 seen problems happen There was nothing There

22 was some general policy given on Pages 113 and 14

23 And they state on Page 113 there will be

24 implementation of many internal financial

25 controls however that is not a description of

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1 controls which is what is mandated by the

2 statute

3 Another failing occurs on Statute 21839

4 This statute mandates the use of an independent

5 certified public account for performing annual

6 financial reporting so the audited financial

7 statements which are required

8 In Attachment 7 it states that the same

9 person providing accounting services will also

10 perform the auditing services According to the

11 American Institute of CPAs this is actually a

12 violation of independence and an ethics violation

13 itself So anybody who is willing to do both is

14 not by statute an independent auditor And they

15 have stated in their application thats what

16 theyre going to do

17 When you see one statutory violation that is

18 certainly competent and substantial evidence for

19 denial When you see at least three just in one

20 section now were getting overwhelming grounds

21 for denial

22 But we also saw areas in the facilities where

23 they simply state that they will meet statute

24 Saying youre going to meet statute is not the

25 same as explaining what youre going to do

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1 Theyre stating in their financials that theyre

2 going to have $3 million worth of renovations

3 What on earth are you going to do for $3 million

4 Mr Whitaker stated that the building is just

5 a shell However the application states that it

6 is currently being in use by a daycare for the

7 Urban League So whats going on Theres no

8 consistency between whats being said whats

9 being done in the application

10 In that stance we do not make assumptions

11 We must go with what is written So any verbal

12 statements we cant justify that because all we

13 can hold the applicant to is what has been written

14 in that document

15 We have a problem with food service They

16 state that theyre not going to use NSLP and

17 theyre going to contract a vendor which is

18 perfectly acceptable except their target

19 population is going to be children that are at

20 risk Specifically this is a very high population

21 of children who will qualify for free and reduced

22 lunch What about the kids that cant pay for

23 their food what are they going to do all day in

24 class We cant starve children thats wrong

25 Theres no money in the budget for -shy

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

2 MS HEINEY Im sorry

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

4 MS HEINEY Theres no money in the budget

5 for food so theres no money theres no plan

6 And this is an area that has direct effect on

7 health and well-being of the children

8 The action plan that they gave is completely

9 unrealistic and does not meet up against their

10 academic standards For example they state that

11 theyre going to use Achieve 3000 Achieve 3000

12 is a difficult product to use It does require

13 training

14 And the startup budget and the statement of

15 cash flow is there is no money whatsoever for

16 teacher training So are these teachers supposed

17 to walk in on their first day knowing how to use

18 it The action plan says theres going to be

19 training but theres no money for it so how are

20 you going do it As I said theres quite a bit

21 of reasons And if you have any questions we

22 would be more than happy to respond

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay This takes us to

24 Issue 1 whether the applicant failed to comply

25 with the educational plan regarding guiding

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1 principles target population educational program

2 design curriculum plan student performance

3 assessment and evaluation exceptional students

4 and English language learners

5 So the school if you want to have a couple

6 of minutes to speak directly to the educational

7 plan and then well give the district the same

8 amount of time

9 MS ALEXANDER Sure With respect to the

10 mission statement we believe that the denial was

11 not supported by competent substantial evidence in

12 any way For example the School Board alleges

13 that we didnt provide an adequate mission

14 statement or describe how the school utilizes

15 guiding principles

16 As you can kind of get the sense from hearing

17 Dr Myers hes got a pretty sophisticated sense

18 of mission And with respect to the mission

19 statement the application specifically says on

20 Page 4 The mission statement of the charter high

21 school is to provide an exemplary personalized

22 learning program in a supportive resource rich

23 contemporary learning environment Stephen Biko

24 Charter High School is dedicated to excellence and

25 committed to nurturing passionate lifelong

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1 learners

2 It also says that The school will meet the

3 high standards of student achievement by

4 supporting positive academic outcomes for students

5 by addressing the academic social economical -shy

6 Im sorry -- emotional and behavioral needs of

7 enrolled students And it says that High

8 standards will be evident which will offer parents

9 and guardians of students currently attending the

10 elementary and charter schools of Duval County the

11 flexibility to choose the school

12 So our view is that if you actually look at

13 the application there is a specific mission its

14 very clear and in fact weve met the standard

15 Just as an aside there was a reference to a

16 private school cant be a charter school

17 Dr Myers started the private school on donations

18 alone in the interim because he wanted to try to

19 start offering education to the average students

20 as quickly as possible He consulted with the DOE

21 and was told that in fact he could open up the

22 school and that if the charter is granted he

23 could transition from the private school into the

24 charter model so there isnt any prohibition

25 against how hes doing it

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1 But our view is if you look at the

2 application there is a clear mission its

3 outlined there and it did meet the standard So

4 thank you

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

6 District

7 DR MYERS Can I

8 CHAIRMAN CHU You have about 30 seconds

9 DR MYERS Thank you I contacted the

10 Department of Education and they expressed to me

11 that I have to close the school and once I close

12 the school every child has to apply So that was

13 done prior to opening up the private school

14 As they stated theres nowhere in that

15 application where it states (inaudible) So all

16 of these things are preposterous in what theyre

17 saying and its just things that theyre trying

18 to elaborate to make the application look bad

19 As I expressed to you Board members this

20 application was approved similar last year It

21 was the exact application So everything that

22 shes coming up with and all three of them does

23 not make sense it does not It does not weigh

24 this application God knows it does not And

25 they cannot give you sufficient reasons why

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1 Thats why they come in with all of these

2 fictitious false allegations against this

3 application Thats all theyre doing They

4 approved this application last year they did

5 And thats all Im asking for

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right District

7 MR McDUFFIE Just briefly and I will turn

8 the mic over to Ms Bowen

9 This is the second time youve heard that

10 there was a mirror application from last year I

11 would like to ask the Commission to go to Page 39

12 of the application There is a specific provision

13 in the application which says if the school

14 intends to replicate an existing school design

15 you are supposed to notify the district under E

16 and F in that section

17 In their application that section is blank

18 okay So they are replicating an existing school

19 design they did not notify us of that in the

20 application

21 And secondly that also takes away the

22 innovative factor of the school If theyre

23 replicating an existing school what is innovative

24 about their charter school

25 Just briefly again with respect to that

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1 private school the application is in the name of

2 Stephen Biko Private Charter School so it is a

3 private school that is making the application

4 MS BOWEN I would just like to add that if

5 there was an application that was approved last

6 year within the past five years we would be glad

7 to go back and look if theres a name thats

8 submitted for us to do reference But when we

9 looked through all of our prior applications we

10 could find no areas where there was similar an

11 exact model of an approved application that had

12 already been approved by the district

13 But to respond to point one as far as the

14 guiding principle section the mission statement

15 was general it was vague and it did not describe

16 meaningful or measurable priority It

17 inefficiently defines the values of the school and

18 was inconsistent with the appellants subsequent

19 educational program plan The question of the

20 guidance embedded within question one clearly says

21 that it should explain what the school intends to

22 do for whom and to what degree And I failed to

23 be able to fully answer all of those questions by

24 reading the statement

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Were going to have a QampA

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1 session so what were going to do now is let me

2 ask the Commission members do you have any

3 questions

4 MS BRUBAKER I would like to hear how

5 you -shy

6 DR MYERS Me

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes Dr Myers How you plan

8 on taking those low performing students to be able

9 to do dual enrollment or AP classes

10 DR MYERS Well first of all as those

11 students arrive in the school various testing

12 will be done on those students TABE testing also

13 WRAT4 testing and various things We would look

14 at the matrix of where the kid came from

15 We have a child now that came to us Georgia

16 from one of the schools in Georgia where he was

17 functioning at a lower level The WRAT4 which is

18 designed to motivate the child and test the child

19 TABE test then we get a matrix from that and we

20 set a curriculum for -- excuse me -- we set the

21 curriculum for the child give the child

22 appropriate courses that the child has already

23 taken or retake again

24 So we move the child in small groups which

25 would be one-on-one learning or it could be group

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1 learning activities The chairs in the classroom

2 are set up and a table where one to one and one to

3 one where the child can model the other child and

4 move forward

5 The APEX curriculum which is used in Duval

6 County Public Schools they just finished using

7 the APEX curriculum in one of their failing

8 schools which moved -- increased the grade two

9 grades -- I think one or two grades at Andrew

10 Jackson High School They have the APEX They

11 have several schools in Duval County thats using

12 the APEX curriculum So its a Florida curriculum

13 that is being used

14 As they expressed the application -- when I

15 looked at the application since I was using the

16 APEX curriculum I said okay why not modify this

17 and put it back into context where its being

18 used So what were doing is we just wrote the

19 application in regards to what they wanted They

20 wanted APEX We put the APEX in there Its a

21 proven fact that its successful in their public

22 schools

23 MS ALEXANDER Can you answer her questions

24 I think which is how you are going to move the low

25 learners up to eventually taking the AP test

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1 DR MYERS Right Im sorry I know I only

2 have a few more minutes or a few seconds But

3 eventually as they progress in each area in math

4 science social studies then we test again So

5 we test at the beginning test at the end

6 And as they -- at the midterm level it tells

7 us whether or not theyre going to be remediated

8 in the course or move forward As they move

9 forward we get the curriculum more rigorous again

10 for them and the next course which is in line so

11 basically one on one and group learning is

12 efficient for them Theyre going to have to take

13 the same courses but if theyre testing at lower

14 levels thats where the individualized

15 instruction will help them

16 Did I answer it

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

18 respond to that

19 MR McDUFFIE Ms Bowen would like to

20 respond But I just want to make it also clear

21 that that -- what was just explained verbally is

22 not in the application

23 MS BOWEN The APEX curriculum is about a

24 curriculum for a set population of students as

25 well as the TABE Assessment they test and measure

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1 students basic skills The expectation under the

2 Common Core the FCAT 20 far exceeds that

3 curriculum And yes we have used it with some

4 of our most lowest performing students and Andrew

5 Jackson did make some gains but they still have

6 19 percent of their students are reading

7 proficiently

8 So my concern is with that curriculum I know

9 that there is something that you needed to have a

10 better indication that was going to provide the

11 teacher with a clear pathway of how to meet those

12 gaps By giving me an assessment thats only

13 measuring my minimum skills it does not

14 demonstrate the expectation of the Lexile level

15 thats required for a college entrance And on

16 Page 39 of his application it clearly states for

17 students who are interested in pre-med coursework

18 The expectation for reading cannot be

19 provided with the diagnosis information that you

20 get with a TABE Assessment or an APEX curriculum

21 Page 10 -- Im sorry I said Page 39 its stuck

22 in my head for some reason -- but on Page 10 it

23 talks about pre-med students and the other

24 innovative -- because thats what hes saying

25 its one of the innovative factors of this

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1 program

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you Are there other

3 questions from the Commission members

4 MS BRADLEY I have a question

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Verdya

6 MS BRADLEY My question is for the school

7 the applicant Is this a solely online program

8 DR MYERS No maam Its basically online

9 and direct instruction

10 MS BRADLEY Do you discuss direct

11 instruction in here

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY The reason that I ask that

14 question is the questions in the application asks

15 specifically for a description of the curriculum

16 a description of the reading program And in your

17 responses your responses pretty much tie back to

18 the APEX curriculum so it appears that it is

19 solely reliant on And then all of the

20 documentation that you gave was from the APEX

21 program So I was just wondering is it just

22 solely online

23 DR MYERS The majority of it but theres a

24 piece where the direct instruction is in place

25 with the child because the children are culled

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1 out for the particular course learning for the

2 subject area that theyre doing The regular

3 curriculum comes in -- the APEX Lexile learning

4 comes in Everything is designed where its

5 implemented on the laptop for the child If the

6 child needs direct instruction the child is

7 culled out into an environment where he or she

8 receives the one-on-one instruction

9 MS BRADLEY Did you discuss that in here

10 DR MYERS Im pretty sure I did

11 MS ALEXANDER What page are you looking at

12 for these

13 MS BRADLEY Well it kind of goes back and

14 forth It starts on Page 16 where it starts

15 talking about the educational program and then it

16 gives me probably about 20 30 pages on APEX and

17 then it goes into the reading curriculum But Im

18 not seeing anywhere where theres any supplement

19 to that

20 Because even the question on Page 16 was

21 Describe the proposed reading or educational

22 program it sort of goes through elements of the

23 APEX program Then on Page 68 it says Describe

24 the reading curriculum

25 DR MYERS Yes maam If you look at

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1 the -shy

2 MS HITCHCOCK Stand up please

3 DR MYERS Im sorry

4 CHAIRMAN CHU If you could come to the mic

5 that would be very helpful because our court

6 reporter is trying to get it all down

7 DR MYERS Im sorry The bullet there

8 says Direct instruction individual and small

9 group instruction led by highly-qualified

10 teachers

11 MS ESPOSITO Say the page

12 MS BRADLEY Thats on Page 16 But its

13 just part of the -- its sort of an isolated

14 bullet but it doesnt explain it any further than

15 that You know it doesnt tell me that there is

16 going to be a pull-out portion

17 DR MYERS Right But as I stated I just

18 put a little piece in there because thats just a

19 little piece of the curriculum and thats why I

20 just mentioned a little piece of it there The

21 majority of it is an online based curriculum

22 MS HODGENS I have a question for the

23 school

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

25 MS HODGENS I am confused on the targeted

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1 population Im trying to get it on the motion

2 sheet so Im going to go to targeted population

3 first And I am a little confused on it because I

4 can read what you say on Page 12 And on Page 12

5 you talk about being open to all students and

6 then you talk about low-performing students and

7 then you go back to all students

8 And then when I go to Page 41 the curriculum

9 design you talk about students needing credit

10 recovery And then I continue on and I see AP

11 courses honor courses And again I dont want

12 to allude that I dont believe that kids can do

13 those courses but I want to understand what

14 population youre really looking at

15 DR MYERS Were looking at all students

16 within that demographic And within the

17 demographics it is a lower level You have lower

18 level one level two basically they are coming

19 from the downtown sector area within that 5-mile

20 radius area of the downtown

21 So when I say all students because a

22 charter school cannot deny a student from applying

23 or coming in all students are accepted if they

24 can meet transportation needs to come to school

25 So as I expressed to you thats what

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1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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25

1 There was no -- they failed to demonstrate

2 how they were going to make choices of selecting

3 the appropriate materials to meet the needs of all

4 students

5 To say we will select resources but there

6 was no clear indication of how those decisions

7 would be made The assessments didnt provide

8 that detailed information to guide that choice so

9 upon that there was no reason but to have a good

10 cause for denial

11 MS HEINEY Good afternoon My name is

12 Angela Heiney H-e-i-n-e-y and I reviewed the

13 business plan for the applicant As an overview

14 the entire business plan did not meet the standard

15 with the exception of the transportation which

16 only partially met the standard

17 There were quite a few reasons that we found

18 for this The biggest -- there were statutory

19 failures all over the place 100233(6)(a)5

20 states that there has to be an annual financial

21 plan based on projected revenues and expenditures

22 What we found is that the revenues and

23 expenditures provided were unsubstantiated

24 unsupported and there was missing money all over

25 the place For example on Page 107 the

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1 applicant states theyre going to take out

2 $500000 in loans to fund their startup however

3 if you look at their five-year business plan

4 there is no repayment for those loans And they

5 provided absolutely no correspondence from any

6 lending institution that says theyre willing to

7 give half a million dollars and not expect a penny

8 back for over five years In this current

9 economic climate that rarely if ever happens

10 Ive never seen it

11 The application and the denial or the

12 response to the denial that was filed -- the

13 notice of appeal -- there were several points that

14 were made in our denial however they never even

15 discussed those

16 For example the application specifically

17 states that they plan on contracting out HR and

18 accounting services however they dont know how

19 much it is so they didnt even include that in

20 their budget For some of our schools that is

21 thousands and thousands of dollars a year just

22 missing

23 Theres inconsistencies Mr Whitaker just

24 stated that the City of Jacksonville has not

25 promised the money However Page 104 states that

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1 they have a verbal commitment There is no

2 evidence of any commitment no letters from former

3 Mayor Delaney no letters from current Mayor

4 Browns office anybody even suggesting that they

5 know who this school is and that theyre willing

6 to support it

7 A second statutory failing occurs again in

8 (6)(a)5 where it states that the application must

9 have a description of controls that safeguard

10 financing

11 During the general help session the

12 applicants were told they must give detailed

13 procedures on certain areas Why Because these

14 are the areas that consistently have fraud

15 errors thefts mistakes We dont like to

16 believe that will happen at schools but frankly

17 bad things do happen

18 They were told you must have accounts

19 payables accounts receivables cash management

20 payroll those areas Why This is where weve

21 seen problems happen There was nothing There

22 was some general policy given on Pages 113 and 14

23 And they state on Page 113 there will be

24 implementation of many internal financial

25 controls however that is not a description of

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1 controls which is what is mandated by the

2 statute

3 Another failing occurs on Statute 21839

4 This statute mandates the use of an independent

5 certified public account for performing annual

6 financial reporting so the audited financial

7 statements which are required

8 In Attachment 7 it states that the same

9 person providing accounting services will also

10 perform the auditing services According to the

11 American Institute of CPAs this is actually a

12 violation of independence and an ethics violation

13 itself So anybody who is willing to do both is

14 not by statute an independent auditor And they

15 have stated in their application thats what

16 theyre going to do

17 When you see one statutory violation that is

18 certainly competent and substantial evidence for

19 denial When you see at least three just in one

20 section now were getting overwhelming grounds

21 for denial

22 But we also saw areas in the facilities where

23 they simply state that they will meet statute

24 Saying youre going to meet statute is not the

25 same as explaining what youre going to do

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1 Theyre stating in their financials that theyre

2 going to have $3 million worth of renovations

3 What on earth are you going to do for $3 million

4 Mr Whitaker stated that the building is just

5 a shell However the application states that it

6 is currently being in use by a daycare for the

7 Urban League So whats going on Theres no

8 consistency between whats being said whats

9 being done in the application

10 In that stance we do not make assumptions

11 We must go with what is written So any verbal

12 statements we cant justify that because all we

13 can hold the applicant to is what has been written

14 in that document

15 We have a problem with food service They

16 state that theyre not going to use NSLP and

17 theyre going to contract a vendor which is

18 perfectly acceptable except their target

19 population is going to be children that are at

20 risk Specifically this is a very high population

21 of children who will qualify for free and reduced

22 lunch What about the kids that cant pay for

23 their food what are they going to do all day in

24 class We cant starve children thats wrong

25 Theres no money in the budget for -shy

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

2 MS HEINEY Im sorry

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

4 MS HEINEY Theres no money in the budget

5 for food so theres no money theres no plan

6 And this is an area that has direct effect on

7 health and well-being of the children

8 The action plan that they gave is completely

9 unrealistic and does not meet up against their

10 academic standards For example they state that

11 theyre going to use Achieve 3000 Achieve 3000

12 is a difficult product to use It does require

13 training

14 And the startup budget and the statement of

15 cash flow is there is no money whatsoever for

16 teacher training So are these teachers supposed

17 to walk in on their first day knowing how to use

18 it The action plan says theres going to be

19 training but theres no money for it so how are

20 you going do it As I said theres quite a bit

21 of reasons And if you have any questions we

22 would be more than happy to respond

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay This takes us to

24 Issue 1 whether the applicant failed to comply

25 with the educational plan regarding guiding

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1 principles target population educational program

2 design curriculum plan student performance

3 assessment and evaluation exceptional students

4 and English language learners

5 So the school if you want to have a couple

6 of minutes to speak directly to the educational

7 plan and then well give the district the same

8 amount of time

9 MS ALEXANDER Sure With respect to the

10 mission statement we believe that the denial was

11 not supported by competent substantial evidence in

12 any way For example the School Board alleges

13 that we didnt provide an adequate mission

14 statement or describe how the school utilizes

15 guiding principles

16 As you can kind of get the sense from hearing

17 Dr Myers hes got a pretty sophisticated sense

18 of mission And with respect to the mission

19 statement the application specifically says on

20 Page 4 The mission statement of the charter high

21 school is to provide an exemplary personalized

22 learning program in a supportive resource rich

23 contemporary learning environment Stephen Biko

24 Charter High School is dedicated to excellence and

25 committed to nurturing passionate lifelong

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1 learners

2 It also says that The school will meet the

3 high standards of student achievement by

4 supporting positive academic outcomes for students

5 by addressing the academic social economical -shy

6 Im sorry -- emotional and behavioral needs of

7 enrolled students And it says that High

8 standards will be evident which will offer parents

9 and guardians of students currently attending the

10 elementary and charter schools of Duval County the

11 flexibility to choose the school

12 So our view is that if you actually look at

13 the application there is a specific mission its

14 very clear and in fact weve met the standard

15 Just as an aside there was a reference to a

16 private school cant be a charter school

17 Dr Myers started the private school on donations

18 alone in the interim because he wanted to try to

19 start offering education to the average students

20 as quickly as possible He consulted with the DOE

21 and was told that in fact he could open up the

22 school and that if the charter is granted he

23 could transition from the private school into the

24 charter model so there isnt any prohibition

25 against how hes doing it

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1 But our view is if you look at the

2 application there is a clear mission its

3 outlined there and it did meet the standard So

4 thank you

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

6 District

7 DR MYERS Can I

8 CHAIRMAN CHU You have about 30 seconds

9 DR MYERS Thank you I contacted the

10 Department of Education and they expressed to me

11 that I have to close the school and once I close

12 the school every child has to apply So that was

13 done prior to opening up the private school

14 As they stated theres nowhere in that

15 application where it states (inaudible) So all

16 of these things are preposterous in what theyre

17 saying and its just things that theyre trying

18 to elaborate to make the application look bad

19 As I expressed to you Board members this

20 application was approved similar last year It

21 was the exact application So everything that

22 shes coming up with and all three of them does

23 not make sense it does not It does not weigh

24 this application God knows it does not And

25 they cannot give you sufficient reasons why

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1 Thats why they come in with all of these

2 fictitious false allegations against this

3 application Thats all theyre doing They

4 approved this application last year they did

5 And thats all Im asking for

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right District

7 MR McDUFFIE Just briefly and I will turn

8 the mic over to Ms Bowen

9 This is the second time youve heard that

10 there was a mirror application from last year I

11 would like to ask the Commission to go to Page 39

12 of the application There is a specific provision

13 in the application which says if the school

14 intends to replicate an existing school design

15 you are supposed to notify the district under E

16 and F in that section

17 In their application that section is blank

18 okay So they are replicating an existing school

19 design they did not notify us of that in the

20 application

21 And secondly that also takes away the

22 innovative factor of the school If theyre

23 replicating an existing school what is innovative

24 about their charter school

25 Just briefly again with respect to that

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1 private school the application is in the name of

2 Stephen Biko Private Charter School so it is a

3 private school that is making the application

4 MS BOWEN I would just like to add that if

5 there was an application that was approved last

6 year within the past five years we would be glad

7 to go back and look if theres a name thats

8 submitted for us to do reference But when we

9 looked through all of our prior applications we

10 could find no areas where there was similar an

11 exact model of an approved application that had

12 already been approved by the district

13 But to respond to point one as far as the

14 guiding principle section the mission statement

15 was general it was vague and it did not describe

16 meaningful or measurable priority It

17 inefficiently defines the values of the school and

18 was inconsistent with the appellants subsequent

19 educational program plan The question of the

20 guidance embedded within question one clearly says

21 that it should explain what the school intends to

22 do for whom and to what degree And I failed to

23 be able to fully answer all of those questions by

24 reading the statement

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Were going to have a QampA

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1 session so what were going to do now is let me

2 ask the Commission members do you have any

3 questions

4 MS BRUBAKER I would like to hear how

5 you -shy

6 DR MYERS Me

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes Dr Myers How you plan

8 on taking those low performing students to be able

9 to do dual enrollment or AP classes

10 DR MYERS Well first of all as those

11 students arrive in the school various testing

12 will be done on those students TABE testing also

13 WRAT4 testing and various things We would look

14 at the matrix of where the kid came from

15 We have a child now that came to us Georgia

16 from one of the schools in Georgia where he was

17 functioning at a lower level The WRAT4 which is

18 designed to motivate the child and test the child

19 TABE test then we get a matrix from that and we

20 set a curriculum for -- excuse me -- we set the

21 curriculum for the child give the child

22 appropriate courses that the child has already

23 taken or retake again

24 So we move the child in small groups which

25 would be one-on-one learning or it could be group

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1 learning activities The chairs in the classroom

2 are set up and a table where one to one and one to

3 one where the child can model the other child and

4 move forward

5 The APEX curriculum which is used in Duval

6 County Public Schools they just finished using

7 the APEX curriculum in one of their failing

8 schools which moved -- increased the grade two

9 grades -- I think one or two grades at Andrew

10 Jackson High School They have the APEX They

11 have several schools in Duval County thats using

12 the APEX curriculum So its a Florida curriculum

13 that is being used

14 As they expressed the application -- when I

15 looked at the application since I was using the

16 APEX curriculum I said okay why not modify this

17 and put it back into context where its being

18 used So what were doing is we just wrote the

19 application in regards to what they wanted They

20 wanted APEX We put the APEX in there Its a

21 proven fact that its successful in their public

22 schools

23 MS ALEXANDER Can you answer her questions

24 I think which is how you are going to move the low

25 learners up to eventually taking the AP test

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1 DR MYERS Right Im sorry I know I only

2 have a few more minutes or a few seconds But

3 eventually as they progress in each area in math

4 science social studies then we test again So

5 we test at the beginning test at the end

6 And as they -- at the midterm level it tells

7 us whether or not theyre going to be remediated

8 in the course or move forward As they move

9 forward we get the curriculum more rigorous again

10 for them and the next course which is in line so

11 basically one on one and group learning is

12 efficient for them Theyre going to have to take

13 the same courses but if theyre testing at lower

14 levels thats where the individualized

15 instruction will help them

16 Did I answer it

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

18 respond to that

19 MR McDUFFIE Ms Bowen would like to

20 respond But I just want to make it also clear

21 that that -- what was just explained verbally is

22 not in the application

23 MS BOWEN The APEX curriculum is about a

24 curriculum for a set population of students as

25 well as the TABE Assessment they test and measure

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1 students basic skills The expectation under the

2 Common Core the FCAT 20 far exceeds that

3 curriculum And yes we have used it with some

4 of our most lowest performing students and Andrew

5 Jackson did make some gains but they still have

6 19 percent of their students are reading

7 proficiently

8 So my concern is with that curriculum I know

9 that there is something that you needed to have a

10 better indication that was going to provide the

11 teacher with a clear pathway of how to meet those

12 gaps By giving me an assessment thats only

13 measuring my minimum skills it does not

14 demonstrate the expectation of the Lexile level

15 thats required for a college entrance And on

16 Page 39 of his application it clearly states for

17 students who are interested in pre-med coursework

18 The expectation for reading cannot be

19 provided with the diagnosis information that you

20 get with a TABE Assessment or an APEX curriculum

21 Page 10 -- Im sorry I said Page 39 its stuck

22 in my head for some reason -- but on Page 10 it

23 talks about pre-med students and the other

24 innovative -- because thats what hes saying

25 its one of the innovative factors of this

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1 program

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you Are there other

3 questions from the Commission members

4 MS BRADLEY I have a question

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Verdya

6 MS BRADLEY My question is for the school

7 the applicant Is this a solely online program

8 DR MYERS No maam Its basically online

9 and direct instruction

10 MS BRADLEY Do you discuss direct

11 instruction in here

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY The reason that I ask that

14 question is the questions in the application asks

15 specifically for a description of the curriculum

16 a description of the reading program And in your

17 responses your responses pretty much tie back to

18 the APEX curriculum so it appears that it is

19 solely reliant on And then all of the

20 documentation that you gave was from the APEX

21 program So I was just wondering is it just

22 solely online

23 DR MYERS The majority of it but theres a

24 piece where the direct instruction is in place

25 with the child because the children are culled

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1 out for the particular course learning for the

2 subject area that theyre doing The regular

3 curriculum comes in -- the APEX Lexile learning

4 comes in Everything is designed where its

5 implemented on the laptop for the child If the

6 child needs direct instruction the child is

7 culled out into an environment where he or she

8 receives the one-on-one instruction

9 MS BRADLEY Did you discuss that in here

10 DR MYERS Im pretty sure I did

11 MS ALEXANDER What page are you looking at

12 for these

13 MS BRADLEY Well it kind of goes back and

14 forth It starts on Page 16 where it starts

15 talking about the educational program and then it

16 gives me probably about 20 30 pages on APEX and

17 then it goes into the reading curriculum But Im

18 not seeing anywhere where theres any supplement

19 to that

20 Because even the question on Page 16 was

21 Describe the proposed reading or educational

22 program it sort of goes through elements of the

23 APEX program Then on Page 68 it says Describe

24 the reading curriculum

25 DR MYERS Yes maam If you look at

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1 the -shy

2 MS HITCHCOCK Stand up please

3 DR MYERS Im sorry

4 CHAIRMAN CHU If you could come to the mic

5 that would be very helpful because our court

6 reporter is trying to get it all down

7 DR MYERS Im sorry The bullet there

8 says Direct instruction individual and small

9 group instruction led by highly-qualified

10 teachers

11 MS ESPOSITO Say the page

12 MS BRADLEY Thats on Page 16 But its

13 just part of the -- its sort of an isolated

14 bullet but it doesnt explain it any further than

15 that You know it doesnt tell me that there is

16 going to be a pull-out portion

17 DR MYERS Right But as I stated I just

18 put a little piece in there because thats just a

19 little piece of the curriculum and thats why I

20 just mentioned a little piece of it there The

21 majority of it is an online based curriculum

22 MS HODGENS I have a question for the

23 school

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

25 MS HODGENS I am confused on the targeted

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1 population Im trying to get it on the motion

2 sheet so Im going to go to targeted population

3 first And I am a little confused on it because I

4 can read what you say on Page 12 And on Page 12

5 you talk about being open to all students and

6 then you talk about low-performing students and

7 then you go back to all students

8 And then when I go to Page 41 the curriculum

9 design you talk about students needing credit

10 recovery And then I continue on and I see AP

11 courses honor courses And again I dont want

12 to allude that I dont believe that kids can do

13 those courses but I want to understand what

14 population youre really looking at

15 DR MYERS Were looking at all students

16 within that demographic And within the

17 demographics it is a lower level You have lower

18 level one level two basically they are coming

19 from the downtown sector area within that 5-mile

20 radius area of the downtown

21 So when I say all students because a

22 charter school cannot deny a student from applying

23 or coming in all students are accepted if they

24 can meet transportation needs to come to school

25 So as I expressed to you thats what

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1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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Page 26: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

26

1 applicant states theyre going to take out

2 $500000 in loans to fund their startup however

3 if you look at their five-year business plan

4 there is no repayment for those loans And they

5 provided absolutely no correspondence from any

6 lending institution that says theyre willing to

7 give half a million dollars and not expect a penny

8 back for over five years In this current

9 economic climate that rarely if ever happens

10 Ive never seen it

11 The application and the denial or the

12 response to the denial that was filed -- the

13 notice of appeal -- there were several points that

14 were made in our denial however they never even

15 discussed those

16 For example the application specifically

17 states that they plan on contracting out HR and

18 accounting services however they dont know how

19 much it is so they didnt even include that in

20 their budget For some of our schools that is

21 thousands and thousands of dollars a year just

22 missing

23 Theres inconsistencies Mr Whitaker just

24 stated that the City of Jacksonville has not

25 promised the money However Page 104 states that

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1 they have a verbal commitment There is no

2 evidence of any commitment no letters from former

3 Mayor Delaney no letters from current Mayor

4 Browns office anybody even suggesting that they

5 know who this school is and that theyre willing

6 to support it

7 A second statutory failing occurs again in

8 (6)(a)5 where it states that the application must

9 have a description of controls that safeguard

10 financing

11 During the general help session the

12 applicants were told they must give detailed

13 procedures on certain areas Why Because these

14 are the areas that consistently have fraud

15 errors thefts mistakes We dont like to

16 believe that will happen at schools but frankly

17 bad things do happen

18 They were told you must have accounts

19 payables accounts receivables cash management

20 payroll those areas Why This is where weve

21 seen problems happen There was nothing There

22 was some general policy given on Pages 113 and 14

23 And they state on Page 113 there will be

24 implementation of many internal financial

25 controls however that is not a description of

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1 controls which is what is mandated by the

2 statute

3 Another failing occurs on Statute 21839

4 This statute mandates the use of an independent

5 certified public account for performing annual

6 financial reporting so the audited financial

7 statements which are required

8 In Attachment 7 it states that the same

9 person providing accounting services will also

10 perform the auditing services According to the

11 American Institute of CPAs this is actually a

12 violation of independence and an ethics violation

13 itself So anybody who is willing to do both is

14 not by statute an independent auditor And they

15 have stated in their application thats what

16 theyre going to do

17 When you see one statutory violation that is

18 certainly competent and substantial evidence for

19 denial When you see at least three just in one

20 section now were getting overwhelming grounds

21 for denial

22 But we also saw areas in the facilities where

23 they simply state that they will meet statute

24 Saying youre going to meet statute is not the

25 same as explaining what youre going to do

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1 Theyre stating in their financials that theyre

2 going to have $3 million worth of renovations

3 What on earth are you going to do for $3 million

4 Mr Whitaker stated that the building is just

5 a shell However the application states that it

6 is currently being in use by a daycare for the

7 Urban League So whats going on Theres no

8 consistency between whats being said whats

9 being done in the application

10 In that stance we do not make assumptions

11 We must go with what is written So any verbal

12 statements we cant justify that because all we

13 can hold the applicant to is what has been written

14 in that document

15 We have a problem with food service They

16 state that theyre not going to use NSLP and

17 theyre going to contract a vendor which is

18 perfectly acceptable except their target

19 population is going to be children that are at

20 risk Specifically this is a very high population

21 of children who will qualify for free and reduced

22 lunch What about the kids that cant pay for

23 their food what are they going to do all day in

24 class We cant starve children thats wrong

25 Theres no money in the budget for -shy

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

2 MS HEINEY Im sorry

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

4 MS HEINEY Theres no money in the budget

5 for food so theres no money theres no plan

6 And this is an area that has direct effect on

7 health and well-being of the children

8 The action plan that they gave is completely

9 unrealistic and does not meet up against their

10 academic standards For example they state that

11 theyre going to use Achieve 3000 Achieve 3000

12 is a difficult product to use It does require

13 training

14 And the startup budget and the statement of

15 cash flow is there is no money whatsoever for

16 teacher training So are these teachers supposed

17 to walk in on their first day knowing how to use

18 it The action plan says theres going to be

19 training but theres no money for it so how are

20 you going do it As I said theres quite a bit

21 of reasons And if you have any questions we

22 would be more than happy to respond

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay This takes us to

24 Issue 1 whether the applicant failed to comply

25 with the educational plan regarding guiding

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1 principles target population educational program

2 design curriculum plan student performance

3 assessment and evaluation exceptional students

4 and English language learners

5 So the school if you want to have a couple

6 of minutes to speak directly to the educational

7 plan and then well give the district the same

8 amount of time

9 MS ALEXANDER Sure With respect to the

10 mission statement we believe that the denial was

11 not supported by competent substantial evidence in

12 any way For example the School Board alleges

13 that we didnt provide an adequate mission

14 statement or describe how the school utilizes

15 guiding principles

16 As you can kind of get the sense from hearing

17 Dr Myers hes got a pretty sophisticated sense

18 of mission And with respect to the mission

19 statement the application specifically says on

20 Page 4 The mission statement of the charter high

21 school is to provide an exemplary personalized

22 learning program in a supportive resource rich

23 contemporary learning environment Stephen Biko

24 Charter High School is dedicated to excellence and

25 committed to nurturing passionate lifelong

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1 learners

2 It also says that The school will meet the

3 high standards of student achievement by

4 supporting positive academic outcomes for students

5 by addressing the academic social economical -shy

6 Im sorry -- emotional and behavioral needs of

7 enrolled students And it says that High

8 standards will be evident which will offer parents

9 and guardians of students currently attending the

10 elementary and charter schools of Duval County the

11 flexibility to choose the school

12 So our view is that if you actually look at

13 the application there is a specific mission its

14 very clear and in fact weve met the standard

15 Just as an aside there was a reference to a

16 private school cant be a charter school

17 Dr Myers started the private school on donations

18 alone in the interim because he wanted to try to

19 start offering education to the average students

20 as quickly as possible He consulted with the DOE

21 and was told that in fact he could open up the

22 school and that if the charter is granted he

23 could transition from the private school into the

24 charter model so there isnt any prohibition

25 against how hes doing it

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1 But our view is if you look at the

2 application there is a clear mission its

3 outlined there and it did meet the standard So

4 thank you

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

6 District

7 DR MYERS Can I

8 CHAIRMAN CHU You have about 30 seconds

9 DR MYERS Thank you I contacted the

10 Department of Education and they expressed to me

11 that I have to close the school and once I close

12 the school every child has to apply So that was

13 done prior to opening up the private school

14 As they stated theres nowhere in that

15 application where it states (inaudible) So all

16 of these things are preposterous in what theyre

17 saying and its just things that theyre trying

18 to elaborate to make the application look bad

19 As I expressed to you Board members this

20 application was approved similar last year It

21 was the exact application So everything that

22 shes coming up with and all three of them does

23 not make sense it does not It does not weigh

24 this application God knows it does not And

25 they cannot give you sufficient reasons why

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1 Thats why they come in with all of these

2 fictitious false allegations against this

3 application Thats all theyre doing They

4 approved this application last year they did

5 And thats all Im asking for

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right District

7 MR McDUFFIE Just briefly and I will turn

8 the mic over to Ms Bowen

9 This is the second time youve heard that

10 there was a mirror application from last year I

11 would like to ask the Commission to go to Page 39

12 of the application There is a specific provision

13 in the application which says if the school

14 intends to replicate an existing school design

15 you are supposed to notify the district under E

16 and F in that section

17 In their application that section is blank

18 okay So they are replicating an existing school

19 design they did not notify us of that in the

20 application

21 And secondly that also takes away the

22 innovative factor of the school If theyre

23 replicating an existing school what is innovative

24 about their charter school

25 Just briefly again with respect to that

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1 private school the application is in the name of

2 Stephen Biko Private Charter School so it is a

3 private school that is making the application

4 MS BOWEN I would just like to add that if

5 there was an application that was approved last

6 year within the past five years we would be glad

7 to go back and look if theres a name thats

8 submitted for us to do reference But when we

9 looked through all of our prior applications we

10 could find no areas where there was similar an

11 exact model of an approved application that had

12 already been approved by the district

13 But to respond to point one as far as the

14 guiding principle section the mission statement

15 was general it was vague and it did not describe

16 meaningful or measurable priority It

17 inefficiently defines the values of the school and

18 was inconsistent with the appellants subsequent

19 educational program plan The question of the

20 guidance embedded within question one clearly says

21 that it should explain what the school intends to

22 do for whom and to what degree And I failed to

23 be able to fully answer all of those questions by

24 reading the statement

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Were going to have a QampA

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1 session so what were going to do now is let me

2 ask the Commission members do you have any

3 questions

4 MS BRUBAKER I would like to hear how

5 you -shy

6 DR MYERS Me

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes Dr Myers How you plan

8 on taking those low performing students to be able

9 to do dual enrollment or AP classes

10 DR MYERS Well first of all as those

11 students arrive in the school various testing

12 will be done on those students TABE testing also

13 WRAT4 testing and various things We would look

14 at the matrix of where the kid came from

15 We have a child now that came to us Georgia

16 from one of the schools in Georgia where he was

17 functioning at a lower level The WRAT4 which is

18 designed to motivate the child and test the child

19 TABE test then we get a matrix from that and we

20 set a curriculum for -- excuse me -- we set the

21 curriculum for the child give the child

22 appropriate courses that the child has already

23 taken or retake again

24 So we move the child in small groups which

25 would be one-on-one learning or it could be group

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1 learning activities The chairs in the classroom

2 are set up and a table where one to one and one to

3 one where the child can model the other child and

4 move forward

5 The APEX curriculum which is used in Duval

6 County Public Schools they just finished using

7 the APEX curriculum in one of their failing

8 schools which moved -- increased the grade two

9 grades -- I think one or two grades at Andrew

10 Jackson High School They have the APEX They

11 have several schools in Duval County thats using

12 the APEX curriculum So its a Florida curriculum

13 that is being used

14 As they expressed the application -- when I

15 looked at the application since I was using the

16 APEX curriculum I said okay why not modify this

17 and put it back into context where its being

18 used So what were doing is we just wrote the

19 application in regards to what they wanted They

20 wanted APEX We put the APEX in there Its a

21 proven fact that its successful in their public

22 schools

23 MS ALEXANDER Can you answer her questions

24 I think which is how you are going to move the low

25 learners up to eventually taking the AP test

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1 DR MYERS Right Im sorry I know I only

2 have a few more minutes or a few seconds But

3 eventually as they progress in each area in math

4 science social studies then we test again So

5 we test at the beginning test at the end

6 And as they -- at the midterm level it tells

7 us whether or not theyre going to be remediated

8 in the course or move forward As they move

9 forward we get the curriculum more rigorous again

10 for them and the next course which is in line so

11 basically one on one and group learning is

12 efficient for them Theyre going to have to take

13 the same courses but if theyre testing at lower

14 levels thats where the individualized

15 instruction will help them

16 Did I answer it

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

18 respond to that

19 MR McDUFFIE Ms Bowen would like to

20 respond But I just want to make it also clear

21 that that -- what was just explained verbally is

22 not in the application

23 MS BOWEN The APEX curriculum is about a

24 curriculum for a set population of students as

25 well as the TABE Assessment they test and measure

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1 students basic skills The expectation under the

2 Common Core the FCAT 20 far exceeds that

3 curriculum And yes we have used it with some

4 of our most lowest performing students and Andrew

5 Jackson did make some gains but they still have

6 19 percent of their students are reading

7 proficiently

8 So my concern is with that curriculum I know

9 that there is something that you needed to have a

10 better indication that was going to provide the

11 teacher with a clear pathway of how to meet those

12 gaps By giving me an assessment thats only

13 measuring my minimum skills it does not

14 demonstrate the expectation of the Lexile level

15 thats required for a college entrance And on

16 Page 39 of his application it clearly states for

17 students who are interested in pre-med coursework

18 The expectation for reading cannot be

19 provided with the diagnosis information that you

20 get with a TABE Assessment or an APEX curriculum

21 Page 10 -- Im sorry I said Page 39 its stuck

22 in my head for some reason -- but on Page 10 it

23 talks about pre-med students and the other

24 innovative -- because thats what hes saying

25 its one of the innovative factors of this

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1 program

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you Are there other

3 questions from the Commission members

4 MS BRADLEY I have a question

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Verdya

6 MS BRADLEY My question is for the school

7 the applicant Is this a solely online program

8 DR MYERS No maam Its basically online

9 and direct instruction

10 MS BRADLEY Do you discuss direct

11 instruction in here

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY The reason that I ask that

14 question is the questions in the application asks

15 specifically for a description of the curriculum

16 a description of the reading program And in your

17 responses your responses pretty much tie back to

18 the APEX curriculum so it appears that it is

19 solely reliant on And then all of the

20 documentation that you gave was from the APEX

21 program So I was just wondering is it just

22 solely online

23 DR MYERS The majority of it but theres a

24 piece where the direct instruction is in place

25 with the child because the children are culled

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1 out for the particular course learning for the

2 subject area that theyre doing The regular

3 curriculum comes in -- the APEX Lexile learning

4 comes in Everything is designed where its

5 implemented on the laptop for the child If the

6 child needs direct instruction the child is

7 culled out into an environment where he or she

8 receives the one-on-one instruction

9 MS BRADLEY Did you discuss that in here

10 DR MYERS Im pretty sure I did

11 MS ALEXANDER What page are you looking at

12 for these

13 MS BRADLEY Well it kind of goes back and

14 forth It starts on Page 16 where it starts

15 talking about the educational program and then it

16 gives me probably about 20 30 pages on APEX and

17 then it goes into the reading curriculum But Im

18 not seeing anywhere where theres any supplement

19 to that

20 Because even the question on Page 16 was

21 Describe the proposed reading or educational

22 program it sort of goes through elements of the

23 APEX program Then on Page 68 it says Describe

24 the reading curriculum

25 DR MYERS Yes maam If you look at

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1 the -shy

2 MS HITCHCOCK Stand up please

3 DR MYERS Im sorry

4 CHAIRMAN CHU If you could come to the mic

5 that would be very helpful because our court

6 reporter is trying to get it all down

7 DR MYERS Im sorry The bullet there

8 says Direct instruction individual and small

9 group instruction led by highly-qualified

10 teachers

11 MS ESPOSITO Say the page

12 MS BRADLEY Thats on Page 16 But its

13 just part of the -- its sort of an isolated

14 bullet but it doesnt explain it any further than

15 that You know it doesnt tell me that there is

16 going to be a pull-out portion

17 DR MYERS Right But as I stated I just

18 put a little piece in there because thats just a

19 little piece of the curriculum and thats why I

20 just mentioned a little piece of it there The

21 majority of it is an online based curriculum

22 MS HODGENS I have a question for the

23 school

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

25 MS HODGENS I am confused on the targeted

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1 population Im trying to get it on the motion

2 sheet so Im going to go to targeted population

3 first And I am a little confused on it because I

4 can read what you say on Page 12 And on Page 12

5 you talk about being open to all students and

6 then you talk about low-performing students and

7 then you go back to all students

8 And then when I go to Page 41 the curriculum

9 design you talk about students needing credit

10 recovery And then I continue on and I see AP

11 courses honor courses And again I dont want

12 to allude that I dont believe that kids can do

13 those courses but I want to understand what

14 population youre really looking at

15 DR MYERS Were looking at all students

16 within that demographic And within the

17 demographics it is a lower level You have lower

18 level one level two basically they are coming

19 from the downtown sector area within that 5-mile

20 radius area of the downtown

21 So when I say all students because a

22 charter school cannot deny a student from applying

23 or coming in all students are accepted if they

24 can meet transportation needs to come to school

25 So as I expressed to you thats what

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1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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Page 27: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

27

1 they have a verbal commitment There is no

2 evidence of any commitment no letters from former

3 Mayor Delaney no letters from current Mayor

4 Browns office anybody even suggesting that they

5 know who this school is and that theyre willing

6 to support it

7 A second statutory failing occurs again in

8 (6)(a)5 where it states that the application must

9 have a description of controls that safeguard

10 financing

11 During the general help session the

12 applicants were told they must give detailed

13 procedures on certain areas Why Because these

14 are the areas that consistently have fraud

15 errors thefts mistakes We dont like to

16 believe that will happen at schools but frankly

17 bad things do happen

18 They were told you must have accounts

19 payables accounts receivables cash management

20 payroll those areas Why This is where weve

21 seen problems happen There was nothing There

22 was some general policy given on Pages 113 and 14

23 And they state on Page 113 there will be

24 implementation of many internal financial

25 controls however that is not a description of

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1 controls which is what is mandated by the

2 statute

3 Another failing occurs on Statute 21839

4 This statute mandates the use of an independent

5 certified public account for performing annual

6 financial reporting so the audited financial

7 statements which are required

8 In Attachment 7 it states that the same

9 person providing accounting services will also

10 perform the auditing services According to the

11 American Institute of CPAs this is actually a

12 violation of independence and an ethics violation

13 itself So anybody who is willing to do both is

14 not by statute an independent auditor And they

15 have stated in their application thats what

16 theyre going to do

17 When you see one statutory violation that is

18 certainly competent and substantial evidence for

19 denial When you see at least three just in one

20 section now were getting overwhelming grounds

21 for denial

22 But we also saw areas in the facilities where

23 they simply state that they will meet statute

24 Saying youre going to meet statute is not the

25 same as explaining what youre going to do

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1 Theyre stating in their financials that theyre

2 going to have $3 million worth of renovations

3 What on earth are you going to do for $3 million

4 Mr Whitaker stated that the building is just

5 a shell However the application states that it

6 is currently being in use by a daycare for the

7 Urban League So whats going on Theres no

8 consistency between whats being said whats

9 being done in the application

10 In that stance we do not make assumptions

11 We must go with what is written So any verbal

12 statements we cant justify that because all we

13 can hold the applicant to is what has been written

14 in that document

15 We have a problem with food service They

16 state that theyre not going to use NSLP and

17 theyre going to contract a vendor which is

18 perfectly acceptable except their target

19 population is going to be children that are at

20 risk Specifically this is a very high population

21 of children who will qualify for free and reduced

22 lunch What about the kids that cant pay for

23 their food what are they going to do all day in

24 class We cant starve children thats wrong

25 Theres no money in the budget for -shy

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

2 MS HEINEY Im sorry

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

4 MS HEINEY Theres no money in the budget

5 for food so theres no money theres no plan

6 And this is an area that has direct effect on

7 health and well-being of the children

8 The action plan that they gave is completely

9 unrealistic and does not meet up against their

10 academic standards For example they state that

11 theyre going to use Achieve 3000 Achieve 3000

12 is a difficult product to use It does require

13 training

14 And the startup budget and the statement of

15 cash flow is there is no money whatsoever for

16 teacher training So are these teachers supposed

17 to walk in on their first day knowing how to use

18 it The action plan says theres going to be

19 training but theres no money for it so how are

20 you going do it As I said theres quite a bit

21 of reasons And if you have any questions we

22 would be more than happy to respond

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay This takes us to

24 Issue 1 whether the applicant failed to comply

25 with the educational plan regarding guiding

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1 principles target population educational program

2 design curriculum plan student performance

3 assessment and evaluation exceptional students

4 and English language learners

5 So the school if you want to have a couple

6 of minutes to speak directly to the educational

7 plan and then well give the district the same

8 amount of time

9 MS ALEXANDER Sure With respect to the

10 mission statement we believe that the denial was

11 not supported by competent substantial evidence in

12 any way For example the School Board alleges

13 that we didnt provide an adequate mission

14 statement or describe how the school utilizes

15 guiding principles

16 As you can kind of get the sense from hearing

17 Dr Myers hes got a pretty sophisticated sense

18 of mission And with respect to the mission

19 statement the application specifically says on

20 Page 4 The mission statement of the charter high

21 school is to provide an exemplary personalized

22 learning program in a supportive resource rich

23 contemporary learning environment Stephen Biko

24 Charter High School is dedicated to excellence and

25 committed to nurturing passionate lifelong

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1 learners

2 It also says that The school will meet the

3 high standards of student achievement by

4 supporting positive academic outcomes for students

5 by addressing the academic social economical -shy

6 Im sorry -- emotional and behavioral needs of

7 enrolled students And it says that High

8 standards will be evident which will offer parents

9 and guardians of students currently attending the

10 elementary and charter schools of Duval County the

11 flexibility to choose the school

12 So our view is that if you actually look at

13 the application there is a specific mission its

14 very clear and in fact weve met the standard

15 Just as an aside there was a reference to a

16 private school cant be a charter school

17 Dr Myers started the private school on donations

18 alone in the interim because he wanted to try to

19 start offering education to the average students

20 as quickly as possible He consulted with the DOE

21 and was told that in fact he could open up the

22 school and that if the charter is granted he

23 could transition from the private school into the

24 charter model so there isnt any prohibition

25 against how hes doing it

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1 But our view is if you look at the

2 application there is a clear mission its

3 outlined there and it did meet the standard So

4 thank you

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

6 District

7 DR MYERS Can I

8 CHAIRMAN CHU You have about 30 seconds

9 DR MYERS Thank you I contacted the

10 Department of Education and they expressed to me

11 that I have to close the school and once I close

12 the school every child has to apply So that was

13 done prior to opening up the private school

14 As they stated theres nowhere in that

15 application where it states (inaudible) So all

16 of these things are preposterous in what theyre

17 saying and its just things that theyre trying

18 to elaborate to make the application look bad

19 As I expressed to you Board members this

20 application was approved similar last year It

21 was the exact application So everything that

22 shes coming up with and all three of them does

23 not make sense it does not It does not weigh

24 this application God knows it does not And

25 they cannot give you sufficient reasons why

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1 Thats why they come in with all of these

2 fictitious false allegations against this

3 application Thats all theyre doing They

4 approved this application last year they did

5 And thats all Im asking for

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right District

7 MR McDUFFIE Just briefly and I will turn

8 the mic over to Ms Bowen

9 This is the second time youve heard that

10 there was a mirror application from last year I

11 would like to ask the Commission to go to Page 39

12 of the application There is a specific provision

13 in the application which says if the school

14 intends to replicate an existing school design

15 you are supposed to notify the district under E

16 and F in that section

17 In their application that section is blank

18 okay So they are replicating an existing school

19 design they did not notify us of that in the

20 application

21 And secondly that also takes away the

22 innovative factor of the school If theyre

23 replicating an existing school what is innovative

24 about their charter school

25 Just briefly again with respect to that

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1 private school the application is in the name of

2 Stephen Biko Private Charter School so it is a

3 private school that is making the application

4 MS BOWEN I would just like to add that if

5 there was an application that was approved last

6 year within the past five years we would be glad

7 to go back and look if theres a name thats

8 submitted for us to do reference But when we

9 looked through all of our prior applications we

10 could find no areas where there was similar an

11 exact model of an approved application that had

12 already been approved by the district

13 But to respond to point one as far as the

14 guiding principle section the mission statement

15 was general it was vague and it did not describe

16 meaningful or measurable priority It

17 inefficiently defines the values of the school and

18 was inconsistent with the appellants subsequent

19 educational program plan The question of the

20 guidance embedded within question one clearly says

21 that it should explain what the school intends to

22 do for whom and to what degree And I failed to

23 be able to fully answer all of those questions by

24 reading the statement

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Were going to have a QampA

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1 session so what were going to do now is let me

2 ask the Commission members do you have any

3 questions

4 MS BRUBAKER I would like to hear how

5 you -shy

6 DR MYERS Me

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes Dr Myers How you plan

8 on taking those low performing students to be able

9 to do dual enrollment or AP classes

10 DR MYERS Well first of all as those

11 students arrive in the school various testing

12 will be done on those students TABE testing also

13 WRAT4 testing and various things We would look

14 at the matrix of where the kid came from

15 We have a child now that came to us Georgia

16 from one of the schools in Georgia where he was

17 functioning at a lower level The WRAT4 which is

18 designed to motivate the child and test the child

19 TABE test then we get a matrix from that and we

20 set a curriculum for -- excuse me -- we set the

21 curriculum for the child give the child

22 appropriate courses that the child has already

23 taken or retake again

24 So we move the child in small groups which

25 would be one-on-one learning or it could be group

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1 learning activities The chairs in the classroom

2 are set up and a table where one to one and one to

3 one where the child can model the other child and

4 move forward

5 The APEX curriculum which is used in Duval

6 County Public Schools they just finished using

7 the APEX curriculum in one of their failing

8 schools which moved -- increased the grade two

9 grades -- I think one or two grades at Andrew

10 Jackson High School They have the APEX They

11 have several schools in Duval County thats using

12 the APEX curriculum So its a Florida curriculum

13 that is being used

14 As they expressed the application -- when I

15 looked at the application since I was using the

16 APEX curriculum I said okay why not modify this

17 and put it back into context where its being

18 used So what were doing is we just wrote the

19 application in regards to what they wanted They

20 wanted APEX We put the APEX in there Its a

21 proven fact that its successful in their public

22 schools

23 MS ALEXANDER Can you answer her questions

24 I think which is how you are going to move the low

25 learners up to eventually taking the AP test

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1 DR MYERS Right Im sorry I know I only

2 have a few more minutes or a few seconds But

3 eventually as they progress in each area in math

4 science social studies then we test again So

5 we test at the beginning test at the end

6 And as they -- at the midterm level it tells

7 us whether or not theyre going to be remediated

8 in the course or move forward As they move

9 forward we get the curriculum more rigorous again

10 for them and the next course which is in line so

11 basically one on one and group learning is

12 efficient for them Theyre going to have to take

13 the same courses but if theyre testing at lower

14 levels thats where the individualized

15 instruction will help them

16 Did I answer it

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

18 respond to that

19 MR McDUFFIE Ms Bowen would like to

20 respond But I just want to make it also clear

21 that that -- what was just explained verbally is

22 not in the application

23 MS BOWEN The APEX curriculum is about a

24 curriculum for a set population of students as

25 well as the TABE Assessment they test and measure

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1 students basic skills The expectation under the

2 Common Core the FCAT 20 far exceeds that

3 curriculum And yes we have used it with some

4 of our most lowest performing students and Andrew

5 Jackson did make some gains but they still have

6 19 percent of their students are reading

7 proficiently

8 So my concern is with that curriculum I know

9 that there is something that you needed to have a

10 better indication that was going to provide the

11 teacher with a clear pathway of how to meet those

12 gaps By giving me an assessment thats only

13 measuring my minimum skills it does not

14 demonstrate the expectation of the Lexile level

15 thats required for a college entrance And on

16 Page 39 of his application it clearly states for

17 students who are interested in pre-med coursework

18 The expectation for reading cannot be

19 provided with the diagnosis information that you

20 get with a TABE Assessment or an APEX curriculum

21 Page 10 -- Im sorry I said Page 39 its stuck

22 in my head for some reason -- but on Page 10 it

23 talks about pre-med students and the other

24 innovative -- because thats what hes saying

25 its one of the innovative factors of this

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1 program

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you Are there other

3 questions from the Commission members

4 MS BRADLEY I have a question

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Verdya

6 MS BRADLEY My question is for the school

7 the applicant Is this a solely online program

8 DR MYERS No maam Its basically online

9 and direct instruction

10 MS BRADLEY Do you discuss direct

11 instruction in here

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY The reason that I ask that

14 question is the questions in the application asks

15 specifically for a description of the curriculum

16 a description of the reading program And in your

17 responses your responses pretty much tie back to

18 the APEX curriculum so it appears that it is

19 solely reliant on And then all of the

20 documentation that you gave was from the APEX

21 program So I was just wondering is it just

22 solely online

23 DR MYERS The majority of it but theres a

24 piece where the direct instruction is in place

25 with the child because the children are culled

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1 out for the particular course learning for the

2 subject area that theyre doing The regular

3 curriculum comes in -- the APEX Lexile learning

4 comes in Everything is designed where its

5 implemented on the laptop for the child If the

6 child needs direct instruction the child is

7 culled out into an environment where he or she

8 receives the one-on-one instruction

9 MS BRADLEY Did you discuss that in here

10 DR MYERS Im pretty sure I did

11 MS ALEXANDER What page are you looking at

12 for these

13 MS BRADLEY Well it kind of goes back and

14 forth It starts on Page 16 where it starts

15 talking about the educational program and then it

16 gives me probably about 20 30 pages on APEX and

17 then it goes into the reading curriculum But Im

18 not seeing anywhere where theres any supplement

19 to that

20 Because even the question on Page 16 was

21 Describe the proposed reading or educational

22 program it sort of goes through elements of the

23 APEX program Then on Page 68 it says Describe

24 the reading curriculum

25 DR MYERS Yes maam If you look at

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1 the -shy

2 MS HITCHCOCK Stand up please

3 DR MYERS Im sorry

4 CHAIRMAN CHU If you could come to the mic

5 that would be very helpful because our court

6 reporter is trying to get it all down

7 DR MYERS Im sorry The bullet there

8 says Direct instruction individual and small

9 group instruction led by highly-qualified

10 teachers

11 MS ESPOSITO Say the page

12 MS BRADLEY Thats on Page 16 But its

13 just part of the -- its sort of an isolated

14 bullet but it doesnt explain it any further than

15 that You know it doesnt tell me that there is

16 going to be a pull-out portion

17 DR MYERS Right But as I stated I just

18 put a little piece in there because thats just a

19 little piece of the curriculum and thats why I

20 just mentioned a little piece of it there The

21 majority of it is an online based curriculum

22 MS HODGENS I have a question for the

23 school

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

25 MS HODGENS I am confused on the targeted

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1 population Im trying to get it on the motion

2 sheet so Im going to go to targeted population

3 first And I am a little confused on it because I

4 can read what you say on Page 12 And on Page 12

5 you talk about being open to all students and

6 then you talk about low-performing students and

7 then you go back to all students

8 And then when I go to Page 41 the curriculum

9 design you talk about students needing credit

10 recovery And then I continue on and I see AP

11 courses honor courses And again I dont want

12 to allude that I dont believe that kids can do

13 those courses but I want to understand what

14 population youre really looking at

15 DR MYERS Were looking at all students

16 within that demographic And within the

17 demographics it is a lower level You have lower

18 level one level two basically they are coming

19 from the downtown sector area within that 5-mile

20 radius area of the downtown

21 So when I say all students because a

22 charter school cannot deny a student from applying

23 or coming in all students are accepted if they

24 can meet transportation needs to come to school

25 So as I expressed to you thats what

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1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

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28

1 controls which is what is mandated by the

2 statute

3 Another failing occurs on Statute 21839

4 This statute mandates the use of an independent

5 certified public account for performing annual

6 financial reporting so the audited financial

7 statements which are required

8 In Attachment 7 it states that the same

9 person providing accounting services will also

10 perform the auditing services According to the

11 American Institute of CPAs this is actually a

12 violation of independence and an ethics violation

13 itself So anybody who is willing to do both is

14 not by statute an independent auditor And they

15 have stated in their application thats what

16 theyre going to do

17 When you see one statutory violation that is

18 certainly competent and substantial evidence for

19 denial When you see at least three just in one

20 section now were getting overwhelming grounds

21 for denial

22 But we also saw areas in the facilities where

23 they simply state that they will meet statute

24 Saying youre going to meet statute is not the

25 same as explaining what youre going to do

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1 Theyre stating in their financials that theyre

2 going to have $3 million worth of renovations

3 What on earth are you going to do for $3 million

4 Mr Whitaker stated that the building is just

5 a shell However the application states that it

6 is currently being in use by a daycare for the

7 Urban League So whats going on Theres no

8 consistency between whats being said whats

9 being done in the application

10 In that stance we do not make assumptions

11 We must go with what is written So any verbal

12 statements we cant justify that because all we

13 can hold the applicant to is what has been written

14 in that document

15 We have a problem with food service They

16 state that theyre not going to use NSLP and

17 theyre going to contract a vendor which is

18 perfectly acceptable except their target

19 population is going to be children that are at

20 risk Specifically this is a very high population

21 of children who will qualify for free and reduced

22 lunch What about the kids that cant pay for

23 their food what are they going to do all day in

24 class We cant starve children thats wrong

25 Theres no money in the budget for -shy

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

2 MS HEINEY Im sorry

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

4 MS HEINEY Theres no money in the budget

5 for food so theres no money theres no plan

6 And this is an area that has direct effect on

7 health and well-being of the children

8 The action plan that they gave is completely

9 unrealistic and does not meet up against their

10 academic standards For example they state that

11 theyre going to use Achieve 3000 Achieve 3000

12 is a difficult product to use It does require

13 training

14 And the startup budget and the statement of

15 cash flow is there is no money whatsoever for

16 teacher training So are these teachers supposed

17 to walk in on their first day knowing how to use

18 it The action plan says theres going to be

19 training but theres no money for it so how are

20 you going do it As I said theres quite a bit

21 of reasons And if you have any questions we

22 would be more than happy to respond

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay This takes us to

24 Issue 1 whether the applicant failed to comply

25 with the educational plan regarding guiding

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1 principles target population educational program

2 design curriculum plan student performance

3 assessment and evaluation exceptional students

4 and English language learners

5 So the school if you want to have a couple

6 of minutes to speak directly to the educational

7 plan and then well give the district the same

8 amount of time

9 MS ALEXANDER Sure With respect to the

10 mission statement we believe that the denial was

11 not supported by competent substantial evidence in

12 any way For example the School Board alleges

13 that we didnt provide an adequate mission

14 statement or describe how the school utilizes

15 guiding principles

16 As you can kind of get the sense from hearing

17 Dr Myers hes got a pretty sophisticated sense

18 of mission And with respect to the mission

19 statement the application specifically says on

20 Page 4 The mission statement of the charter high

21 school is to provide an exemplary personalized

22 learning program in a supportive resource rich

23 contemporary learning environment Stephen Biko

24 Charter High School is dedicated to excellence and

25 committed to nurturing passionate lifelong

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1 learners

2 It also says that The school will meet the

3 high standards of student achievement by

4 supporting positive academic outcomes for students

5 by addressing the academic social economical -shy

6 Im sorry -- emotional and behavioral needs of

7 enrolled students And it says that High

8 standards will be evident which will offer parents

9 and guardians of students currently attending the

10 elementary and charter schools of Duval County the

11 flexibility to choose the school

12 So our view is that if you actually look at

13 the application there is a specific mission its

14 very clear and in fact weve met the standard

15 Just as an aside there was a reference to a

16 private school cant be a charter school

17 Dr Myers started the private school on donations

18 alone in the interim because he wanted to try to

19 start offering education to the average students

20 as quickly as possible He consulted with the DOE

21 and was told that in fact he could open up the

22 school and that if the charter is granted he

23 could transition from the private school into the

24 charter model so there isnt any prohibition

25 against how hes doing it

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1 But our view is if you look at the

2 application there is a clear mission its

3 outlined there and it did meet the standard So

4 thank you

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

6 District

7 DR MYERS Can I

8 CHAIRMAN CHU You have about 30 seconds

9 DR MYERS Thank you I contacted the

10 Department of Education and they expressed to me

11 that I have to close the school and once I close

12 the school every child has to apply So that was

13 done prior to opening up the private school

14 As they stated theres nowhere in that

15 application where it states (inaudible) So all

16 of these things are preposterous in what theyre

17 saying and its just things that theyre trying

18 to elaborate to make the application look bad

19 As I expressed to you Board members this

20 application was approved similar last year It

21 was the exact application So everything that

22 shes coming up with and all three of them does

23 not make sense it does not It does not weigh

24 this application God knows it does not And

25 they cannot give you sufficient reasons why

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1 Thats why they come in with all of these

2 fictitious false allegations against this

3 application Thats all theyre doing They

4 approved this application last year they did

5 And thats all Im asking for

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right District

7 MR McDUFFIE Just briefly and I will turn

8 the mic over to Ms Bowen

9 This is the second time youve heard that

10 there was a mirror application from last year I

11 would like to ask the Commission to go to Page 39

12 of the application There is a specific provision

13 in the application which says if the school

14 intends to replicate an existing school design

15 you are supposed to notify the district under E

16 and F in that section

17 In their application that section is blank

18 okay So they are replicating an existing school

19 design they did not notify us of that in the

20 application

21 And secondly that also takes away the

22 innovative factor of the school If theyre

23 replicating an existing school what is innovative

24 about their charter school

25 Just briefly again with respect to that

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1 private school the application is in the name of

2 Stephen Biko Private Charter School so it is a

3 private school that is making the application

4 MS BOWEN I would just like to add that if

5 there was an application that was approved last

6 year within the past five years we would be glad

7 to go back and look if theres a name thats

8 submitted for us to do reference But when we

9 looked through all of our prior applications we

10 could find no areas where there was similar an

11 exact model of an approved application that had

12 already been approved by the district

13 But to respond to point one as far as the

14 guiding principle section the mission statement

15 was general it was vague and it did not describe

16 meaningful or measurable priority It

17 inefficiently defines the values of the school and

18 was inconsistent with the appellants subsequent

19 educational program plan The question of the

20 guidance embedded within question one clearly says

21 that it should explain what the school intends to

22 do for whom and to what degree And I failed to

23 be able to fully answer all of those questions by

24 reading the statement

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Were going to have a QampA

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1 session so what were going to do now is let me

2 ask the Commission members do you have any

3 questions

4 MS BRUBAKER I would like to hear how

5 you -shy

6 DR MYERS Me

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes Dr Myers How you plan

8 on taking those low performing students to be able

9 to do dual enrollment or AP classes

10 DR MYERS Well first of all as those

11 students arrive in the school various testing

12 will be done on those students TABE testing also

13 WRAT4 testing and various things We would look

14 at the matrix of where the kid came from

15 We have a child now that came to us Georgia

16 from one of the schools in Georgia where he was

17 functioning at a lower level The WRAT4 which is

18 designed to motivate the child and test the child

19 TABE test then we get a matrix from that and we

20 set a curriculum for -- excuse me -- we set the

21 curriculum for the child give the child

22 appropriate courses that the child has already

23 taken or retake again

24 So we move the child in small groups which

25 would be one-on-one learning or it could be group

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1 learning activities The chairs in the classroom

2 are set up and a table where one to one and one to

3 one where the child can model the other child and

4 move forward

5 The APEX curriculum which is used in Duval

6 County Public Schools they just finished using

7 the APEX curriculum in one of their failing

8 schools which moved -- increased the grade two

9 grades -- I think one or two grades at Andrew

10 Jackson High School They have the APEX They

11 have several schools in Duval County thats using

12 the APEX curriculum So its a Florida curriculum

13 that is being used

14 As they expressed the application -- when I

15 looked at the application since I was using the

16 APEX curriculum I said okay why not modify this

17 and put it back into context where its being

18 used So what were doing is we just wrote the

19 application in regards to what they wanted They

20 wanted APEX We put the APEX in there Its a

21 proven fact that its successful in their public

22 schools

23 MS ALEXANDER Can you answer her questions

24 I think which is how you are going to move the low

25 learners up to eventually taking the AP test

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1 DR MYERS Right Im sorry I know I only

2 have a few more minutes or a few seconds But

3 eventually as they progress in each area in math

4 science social studies then we test again So

5 we test at the beginning test at the end

6 And as they -- at the midterm level it tells

7 us whether or not theyre going to be remediated

8 in the course or move forward As they move

9 forward we get the curriculum more rigorous again

10 for them and the next course which is in line so

11 basically one on one and group learning is

12 efficient for them Theyre going to have to take

13 the same courses but if theyre testing at lower

14 levels thats where the individualized

15 instruction will help them

16 Did I answer it

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

18 respond to that

19 MR McDUFFIE Ms Bowen would like to

20 respond But I just want to make it also clear

21 that that -- what was just explained verbally is

22 not in the application

23 MS BOWEN The APEX curriculum is about a

24 curriculum for a set population of students as

25 well as the TABE Assessment they test and measure

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1 students basic skills The expectation under the

2 Common Core the FCAT 20 far exceeds that

3 curriculum And yes we have used it with some

4 of our most lowest performing students and Andrew

5 Jackson did make some gains but they still have

6 19 percent of their students are reading

7 proficiently

8 So my concern is with that curriculum I know

9 that there is something that you needed to have a

10 better indication that was going to provide the

11 teacher with a clear pathway of how to meet those

12 gaps By giving me an assessment thats only

13 measuring my minimum skills it does not

14 demonstrate the expectation of the Lexile level

15 thats required for a college entrance And on

16 Page 39 of his application it clearly states for

17 students who are interested in pre-med coursework

18 The expectation for reading cannot be

19 provided with the diagnosis information that you

20 get with a TABE Assessment or an APEX curriculum

21 Page 10 -- Im sorry I said Page 39 its stuck

22 in my head for some reason -- but on Page 10 it

23 talks about pre-med students and the other

24 innovative -- because thats what hes saying

25 its one of the innovative factors of this

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1 program

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you Are there other

3 questions from the Commission members

4 MS BRADLEY I have a question

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Verdya

6 MS BRADLEY My question is for the school

7 the applicant Is this a solely online program

8 DR MYERS No maam Its basically online

9 and direct instruction

10 MS BRADLEY Do you discuss direct

11 instruction in here

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY The reason that I ask that

14 question is the questions in the application asks

15 specifically for a description of the curriculum

16 a description of the reading program And in your

17 responses your responses pretty much tie back to

18 the APEX curriculum so it appears that it is

19 solely reliant on And then all of the

20 documentation that you gave was from the APEX

21 program So I was just wondering is it just

22 solely online

23 DR MYERS The majority of it but theres a

24 piece where the direct instruction is in place

25 with the child because the children are culled

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1 out for the particular course learning for the

2 subject area that theyre doing The regular

3 curriculum comes in -- the APEX Lexile learning

4 comes in Everything is designed where its

5 implemented on the laptop for the child If the

6 child needs direct instruction the child is

7 culled out into an environment where he or she

8 receives the one-on-one instruction

9 MS BRADLEY Did you discuss that in here

10 DR MYERS Im pretty sure I did

11 MS ALEXANDER What page are you looking at

12 for these

13 MS BRADLEY Well it kind of goes back and

14 forth It starts on Page 16 where it starts

15 talking about the educational program and then it

16 gives me probably about 20 30 pages on APEX and

17 then it goes into the reading curriculum But Im

18 not seeing anywhere where theres any supplement

19 to that

20 Because even the question on Page 16 was

21 Describe the proposed reading or educational

22 program it sort of goes through elements of the

23 APEX program Then on Page 68 it says Describe

24 the reading curriculum

25 DR MYERS Yes maam If you look at

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1 the -shy

2 MS HITCHCOCK Stand up please

3 DR MYERS Im sorry

4 CHAIRMAN CHU If you could come to the mic

5 that would be very helpful because our court

6 reporter is trying to get it all down

7 DR MYERS Im sorry The bullet there

8 says Direct instruction individual and small

9 group instruction led by highly-qualified

10 teachers

11 MS ESPOSITO Say the page

12 MS BRADLEY Thats on Page 16 But its

13 just part of the -- its sort of an isolated

14 bullet but it doesnt explain it any further than

15 that You know it doesnt tell me that there is

16 going to be a pull-out portion

17 DR MYERS Right But as I stated I just

18 put a little piece in there because thats just a

19 little piece of the curriculum and thats why I

20 just mentioned a little piece of it there The

21 majority of it is an online based curriculum

22 MS HODGENS I have a question for the

23 school

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

25 MS HODGENS I am confused on the targeted

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1 population Im trying to get it on the motion

2 sheet so Im going to go to targeted population

3 first And I am a little confused on it because I

4 can read what you say on Page 12 And on Page 12

5 you talk about being open to all students and

6 then you talk about low-performing students and

7 then you go back to all students

8 And then when I go to Page 41 the curriculum

9 design you talk about students needing credit

10 recovery And then I continue on and I see AP

11 courses honor courses And again I dont want

12 to allude that I dont believe that kids can do

13 those courses but I want to understand what

14 population youre really looking at

15 DR MYERS Were looking at all students

16 within that demographic And within the

17 demographics it is a lower level You have lower

18 level one level two basically they are coming

19 from the downtown sector area within that 5-mile

20 radius area of the downtown

21 So when I say all students because a

22 charter school cannot deny a student from applying

23 or coming in all students are accepted if they

24 can meet transportation needs to come to school

25 So as I expressed to you thats what

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1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

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29

1 Theyre stating in their financials that theyre

2 going to have $3 million worth of renovations

3 What on earth are you going to do for $3 million

4 Mr Whitaker stated that the building is just

5 a shell However the application states that it

6 is currently being in use by a daycare for the

7 Urban League So whats going on Theres no

8 consistency between whats being said whats

9 being done in the application

10 In that stance we do not make assumptions

11 We must go with what is written So any verbal

12 statements we cant justify that because all we

13 can hold the applicant to is what has been written

14 in that document

15 We have a problem with food service They

16 state that theyre not going to use NSLP and

17 theyre going to contract a vendor which is

18 perfectly acceptable except their target

19 population is going to be children that are at

20 risk Specifically this is a very high population

21 of children who will qualify for free and reduced

22 lunch What about the kids that cant pay for

23 their food what are they going to do all day in

24 class We cant starve children thats wrong

25 Theres no money in the budget for -shy

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

2 MS HEINEY Im sorry

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

4 MS HEINEY Theres no money in the budget

5 for food so theres no money theres no plan

6 And this is an area that has direct effect on

7 health and well-being of the children

8 The action plan that they gave is completely

9 unrealistic and does not meet up against their

10 academic standards For example they state that

11 theyre going to use Achieve 3000 Achieve 3000

12 is a difficult product to use It does require

13 training

14 And the startup budget and the statement of

15 cash flow is there is no money whatsoever for

16 teacher training So are these teachers supposed

17 to walk in on their first day knowing how to use

18 it The action plan says theres going to be

19 training but theres no money for it so how are

20 you going do it As I said theres quite a bit

21 of reasons And if you have any questions we

22 would be more than happy to respond

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay This takes us to

24 Issue 1 whether the applicant failed to comply

25 with the educational plan regarding guiding

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1 principles target population educational program

2 design curriculum plan student performance

3 assessment and evaluation exceptional students

4 and English language learners

5 So the school if you want to have a couple

6 of minutes to speak directly to the educational

7 plan and then well give the district the same

8 amount of time

9 MS ALEXANDER Sure With respect to the

10 mission statement we believe that the denial was

11 not supported by competent substantial evidence in

12 any way For example the School Board alleges

13 that we didnt provide an adequate mission

14 statement or describe how the school utilizes

15 guiding principles

16 As you can kind of get the sense from hearing

17 Dr Myers hes got a pretty sophisticated sense

18 of mission And with respect to the mission

19 statement the application specifically says on

20 Page 4 The mission statement of the charter high

21 school is to provide an exemplary personalized

22 learning program in a supportive resource rich

23 contemporary learning environment Stephen Biko

24 Charter High School is dedicated to excellence and

25 committed to nurturing passionate lifelong

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1 learners

2 It also says that The school will meet the

3 high standards of student achievement by

4 supporting positive academic outcomes for students

5 by addressing the academic social economical -shy

6 Im sorry -- emotional and behavioral needs of

7 enrolled students And it says that High

8 standards will be evident which will offer parents

9 and guardians of students currently attending the

10 elementary and charter schools of Duval County the

11 flexibility to choose the school

12 So our view is that if you actually look at

13 the application there is a specific mission its

14 very clear and in fact weve met the standard

15 Just as an aside there was a reference to a

16 private school cant be a charter school

17 Dr Myers started the private school on donations

18 alone in the interim because he wanted to try to

19 start offering education to the average students

20 as quickly as possible He consulted with the DOE

21 and was told that in fact he could open up the

22 school and that if the charter is granted he

23 could transition from the private school into the

24 charter model so there isnt any prohibition

25 against how hes doing it

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1 But our view is if you look at the

2 application there is a clear mission its

3 outlined there and it did meet the standard So

4 thank you

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

6 District

7 DR MYERS Can I

8 CHAIRMAN CHU You have about 30 seconds

9 DR MYERS Thank you I contacted the

10 Department of Education and they expressed to me

11 that I have to close the school and once I close

12 the school every child has to apply So that was

13 done prior to opening up the private school

14 As they stated theres nowhere in that

15 application where it states (inaudible) So all

16 of these things are preposterous in what theyre

17 saying and its just things that theyre trying

18 to elaborate to make the application look bad

19 As I expressed to you Board members this

20 application was approved similar last year It

21 was the exact application So everything that

22 shes coming up with and all three of them does

23 not make sense it does not It does not weigh

24 this application God knows it does not And

25 they cannot give you sufficient reasons why

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1 Thats why they come in with all of these

2 fictitious false allegations against this

3 application Thats all theyre doing They

4 approved this application last year they did

5 And thats all Im asking for

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right District

7 MR McDUFFIE Just briefly and I will turn

8 the mic over to Ms Bowen

9 This is the second time youve heard that

10 there was a mirror application from last year I

11 would like to ask the Commission to go to Page 39

12 of the application There is a specific provision

13 in the application which says if the school

14 intends to replicate an existing school design

15 you are supposed to notify the district under E

16 and F in that section

17 In their application that section is blank

18 okay So they are replicating an existing school

19 design they did not notify us of that in the

20 application

21 And secondly that also takes away the

22 innovative factor of the school If theyre

23 replicating an existing school what is innovative

24 about their charter school

25 Just briefly again with respect to that

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1 private school the application is in the name of

2 Stephen Biko Private Charter School so it is a

3 private school that is making the application

4 MS BOWEN I would just like to add that if

5 there was an application that was approved last

6 year within the past five years we would be glad

7 to go back and look if theres a name thats

8 submitted for us to do reference But when we

9 looked through all of our prior applications we

10 could find no areas where there was similar an

11 exact model of an approved application that had

12 already been approved by the district

13 But to respond to point one as far as the

14 guiding principle section the mission statement

15 was general it was vague and it did not describe

16 meaningful or measurable priority It

17 inefficiently defines the values of the school and

18 was inconsistent with the appellants subsequent

19 educational program plan The question of the

20 guidance embedded within question one clearly says

21 that it should explain what the school intends to

22 do for whom and to what degree And I failed to

23 be able to fully answer all of those questions by

24 reading the statement

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Were going to have a QampA

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1 session so what were going to do now is let me

2 ask the Commission members do you have any

3 questions

4 MS BRUBAKER I would like to hear how

5 you -shy

6 DR MYERS Me

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes Dr Myers How you plan

8 on taking those low performing students to be able

9 to do dual enrollment or AP classes

10 DR MYERS Well first of all as those

11 students arrive in the school various testing

12 will be done on those students TABE testing also

13 WRAT4 testing and various things We would look

14 at the matrix of where the kid came from

15 We have a child now that came to us Georgia

16 from one of the schools in Georgia where he was

17 functioning at a lower level The WRAT4 which is

18 designed to motivate the child and test the child

19 TABE test then we get a matrix from that and we

20 set a curriculum for -- excuse me -- we set the

21 curriculum for the child give the child

22 appropriate courses that the child has already

23 taken or retake again

24 So we move the child in small groups which

25 would be one-on-one learning or it could be group

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1 learning activities The chairs in the classroom

2 are set up and a table where one to one and one to

3 one where the child can model the other child and

4 move forward

5 The APEX curriculum which is used in Duval

6 County Public Schools they just finished using

7 the APEX curriculum in one of their failing

8 schools which moved -- increased the grade two

9 grades -- I think one or two grades at Andrew

10 Jackson High School They have the APEX They

11 have several schools in Duval County thats using

12 the APEX curriculum So its a Florida curriculum

13 that is being used

14 As they expressed the application -- when I

15 looked at the application since I was using the

16 APEX curriculum I said okay why not modify this

17 and put it back into context where its being

18 used So what were doing is we just wrote the

19 application in regards to what they wanted They

20 wanted APEX We put the APEX in there Its a

21 proven fact that its successful in their public

22 schools

23 MS ALEXANDER Can you answer her questions

24 I think which is how you are going to move the low

25 learners up to eventually taking the AP test

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1 DR MYERS Right Im sorry I know I only

2 have a few more minutes or a few seconds But

3 eventually as they progress in each area in math

4 science social studies then we test again So

5 we test at the beginning test at the end

6 And as they -- at the midterm level it tells

7 us whether or not theyre going to be remediated

8 in the course or move forward As they move

9 forward we get the curriculum more rigorous again

10 for them and the next course which is in line so

11 basically one on one and group learning is

12 efficient for them Theyre going to have to take

13 the same courses but if theyre testing at lower

14 levels thats where the individualized

15 instruction will help them

16 Did I answer it

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

18 respond to that

19 MR McDUFFIE Ms Bowen would like to

20 respond But I just want to make it also clear

21 that that -- what was just explained verbally is

22 not in the application

23 MS BOWEN The APEX curriculum is about a

24 curriculum for a set population of students as

25 well as the TABE Assessment they test and measure

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1 students basic skills The expectation under the

2 Common Core the FCAT 20 far exceeds that

3 curriculum And yes we have used it with some

4 of our most lowest performing students and Andrew

5 Jackson did make some gains but they still have

6 19 percent of their students are reading

7 proficiently

8 So my concern is with that curriculum I know

9 that there is something that you needed to have a

10 better indication that was going to provide the

11 teacher with a clear pathway of how to meet those

12 gaps By giving me an assessment thats only

13 measuring my minimum skills it does not

14 demonstrate the expectation of the Lexile level

15 thats required for a college entrance And on

16 Page 39 of his application it clearly states for

17 students who are interested in pre-med coursework

18 The expectation for reading cannot be

19 provided with the diagnosis information that you

20 get with a TABE Assessment or an APEX curriculum

21 Page 10 -- Im sorry I said Page 39 its stuck

22 in my head for some reason -- but on Page 10 it

23 talks about pre-med students and the other

24 innovative -- because thats what hes saying

25 its one of the innovative factors of this

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1 program

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you Are there other

3 questions from the Commission members

4 MS BRADLEY I have a question

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Verdya

6 MS BRADLEY My question is for the school

7 the applicant Is this a solely online program

8 DR MYERS No maam Its basically online

9 and direct instruction

10 MS BRADLEY Do you discuss direct

11 instruction in here

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY The reason that I ask that

14 question is the questions in the application asks

15 specifically for a description of the curriculum

16 a description of the reading program And in your

17 responses your responses pretty much tie back to

18 the APEX curriculum so it appears that it is

19 solely reliant on And then all of the

20 documentation that you gave was from the APEX

21 program So I was just wondering is it just

22 solely online

23 DR MYERS The majority of it but theres a

24 piece where the direct instruction is in place

25 with the child because the children are culled

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1 out for the particular course learning for the

2 subject area that theyre doing The regular

3 curriculum comes in -- the APEX Lexile learning

4 comes in Everything is designed where its

5 implemented on the laptop for the child If the

6 child needs direct instruction the child is

7 culled out into an environment where he or she

8 receives the one-on-one instruction

9 MS BRADLEY Did you discuss that in here

10 DR MYERS Im pretty sure I did

11 MS ALEXANDER What page are you looking at

12 for these

13 MS BRADLEY Well it kind of goes back and

14 forth It starts on Page 16 where it starts

15 talking about the educational program and then it

16 gives me probably about 20 30 pages on APEX and

17 then it goes into the reading curriculum But Im

18 not seeing anywhere where theres any supplement

19 to that

20 Because even the question on Page 16 was

21 Describe the proposed reading or educational

22 program it sort of goes through elements of the

23 APEX program Then on Page 68 it says Describe

24 the reading curriculum

25 DR MYERS Yes maam If you look at

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1 the -shy

2 MS HITCHCOCK Stand up please

3 DR MYERS Im sorry

4 CHAIRMAN CHU If you could come to the mic

5 that would be very helpful because our court

6 reporter is trying to get it all down

7 DR MYERS Im sorry The bullet there

8 says Direct instruction individual and small

9 group instruction led by highly-qualified

10 teachers

11 MS ESPOSITO Say the page

12 MS BRADLEY Thats on Page 16 But its

13 just part of the -- its sort of an isolated

14 bullet but it doesnt explain it any further than

15 that You know it doesnt tell me that there is

16 going to be a pull-out portion

17 DR MYERS Right But as I stated I just

18 put a little piece in there because thats just a

19 little piece of the curriculum and thats why I

20 just mentioned a little piece of it there The

21 majority of it is an online based curriculum

22 MS HODGENS I have a question for the

23 school

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

25 MS HODGENS I am confused on the targeted

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1 population Im trying to get it on the motion

2 sheet so Im going to go to targeted population

3 first And I am a little confused on it because I

4 can read what you say on Page 12 And on Page 12

5 you talk about being open to all students and

6 then you talk about low-performing students and

7 then you go back to all students

8 And then when I go to Page 41 the curriculum

9 design you talk about students needing credit

10 recovery And then I continue on and I see AP

11 courses honor courses And again I dont want

12 to allude that I dont believe that kids can do

13 those courses but I want to understand what

14 population youre really looking at

15 DR MYERS Were looking at all students

16 within that demographic And within the

17 demographics it is a lower level You have lower

18 level one level two basically they are coming

19 from the downtown sector area within that 5-mile

20 radius area of the downtown

21 So when I say all students because a

22 charter school cannot deny a student from applying

23 or coming in all students are accepted if they

24 can meet transportation needs to come to school

25 So as I expressed to you thats what

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1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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30

1 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

2 MS HEINEY Im sorry

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You have one more minute

4 MS HEINEY Theres no money in the budget

5 for food so theres no money theres no plan

6 And this is an area that has direct effect on

7 health and well-being of the children

8 The action plan that they gave is completely

9 unrealistic and does not meet up against their

10 academic standards For example they state that

11 theyre going to use Achieve 3000 Achieve 3000

12 is a difficult product to use It does require

13 training

14 And the startup budget and the statement of

15 cash flow is there is no money whatsoever for

16 teacher training So are these teachers supposed

17 to walk in on their first day knowing how to use

18 it The action plan says theres going to be

19 training but theres no money for it so how are

20 you going do it As I said theres quite a bit

21 of reasons And if you have any questions we

22 would be more than happy to respond

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay This takes us to

24 Issue 1 whether the applicant failed to comply

25 with the educational plan regarding guiding

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1 principles target population educational program

2 design curriculum plan student performance

3 assessment and evaluation exceptional students

4 and English language learners

5 So the school if you want to have a couple

6 of minutes to speak directly to the educational

7 plan and then well give the district the same

8 amount of time

9 MS ALEXANDER Sure With respect to the

10 mission statement we believe that the denial was

11 not supported by competent substantial evidence in

12 any way For example the School Board alleges

13 that we didnt provide an adequate mission

14 statement or describe how the school utilizes

15 guiding principles

16 As you can kind of get the sense from hearing

17 Dr Myers hes got a pretty sophisticated sense

18 of mission And with respect to the mission

19 statement the application specifically says on

20 Page 4 The mission statement of the charter high

21 school is to provide an exemplary personalized

22 learning program in a supportive resource rich

23 contemporary learning environment Stephen Biko

24 Charter High School is dedicated to excellence and

25 committed to nurturing passionate lifelong

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1 learners

2 It also says that The school will meet the

3 high standards of student achievement by

4 supporting positive academic outcomes for students

5 by addressing the academic social economical -shy

6 Im sorry -- emotional and behavioral needs of

7 enrolled students And it says that High

8 standards will be evident which will offer parents

9 and guardians of students currently attending the

10 elementary and charter schools of Duval County the

11 flexibility to choose the school

12 So our view is that if you actually look at

13 the application there is a specific mission its

14 very clear and in fact weve met the standard

15 Just as an aside there was a reference to a

16 private school cant be a charter school

17 Dr Myers started the private school on donations

18 alone in the interim because he wanted to try to

19 start offering education to the average students

20 as quickly as possible He consulted with the DOE

21 and was told that in fact he could open up the

22 school and that if the charter is granted he

23 could transition from the private school into the

24 charter model so there isnt any prohibition

25 against how hes doing it

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1 But our view is if you look at the

2 application there is a clear mission its

3 outlined there and it did meet the standard So

4 thank you

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

6 District

7 DR MYERS Can I

8 CHAIRMAN CHU You have about 30 seconds

9 DR MYERS Thank you I contacted the

10 Department of Education and they expressed to me

11 that I have to close the school and once I close

12 the school every child has to apply So that was

13 done prior to opening up the private school

14 As they stated theres nowhere in that

15 application where it states (inaudible) So all

16 of these things are preposterous in what theyre

17 saying and its just things that theyre trying

18 to elaborate to make the application look bad

19 As I expressed to you Board members this

20 application was approved similar last year It

21 was the exact application So everything that

22 shes coming up with and all three of them does

23 not make sense it does not It does not weigh

24 this application God knows it does not And

25 they cannot give you sufficient reasons why

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1 Thats why they come in with all of these

2 fictitious false allegations against this

3 application Thats all theyre doing They

4 approved this application last year they did

5 And thats all Im asking for

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right District

7 MR McDUFFIE Just briefly and I will turn

8 the mic over to Ms Bowen

9 This is the second time youve heard that

10 there was a mirror application from last year I

11 would like to ask the Commission to go to Page 39

12 of the application There is a specific provision

13 in the application which says if the school

14 intends to replicate an existing school design

15 you are supposed to notify the district under E

16 and F in that section

17 In their application that section is blank

18 okay So they are replicating an existing school

19 design they did not notify us of that in the

20 application

21 And secondly that also takes away the

22 innovative factor of the school If theyre

23 replicating an existing school what is innovative

24 about their charter school

25 Just briefly again with respect to that

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1 private school the application is in the name of

2 Stephen Biko Private Charter School so it is a

3 private school that is making the application

4 MS BOWEN I would just like to add that if

5 there was an application that was approved last

6 year within the past five years we would be glad

7 to go back and look if theres a name thats

8 submitted for us to do reference But when we

9 looked through all of our prior applications we

10 could find no areas where there was similar an

11 exact model of an approved application that had

12 already been approved by the district

13 But to respond to point one as far as the

14 guiding principle section the mission statement

15 was general it was vague and it did not describe

16 meaningful or measurable priority It

17 inefficiently defines the values of the school and

18 was inconsistent with the appellants subsequent

19 educational program plan The question of the

20 guidance embedded within question one clearly says

21 that it should explain what the school intends to

22 do for whom and to what degree And I failed to

23 be able to fully answer all of those questions by

24 reading the statement

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Were going to have a QampA

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1 session so what were going to do now is let me

2 ask the Commission members do you have any

3 questions

4 MS BRUBAKER I would like to hear how

5 you -shy

6 DR MYERS Me

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes Dr Myers How you plan

8 on taking those low performing students to be able

9 to do dual enrollment or AP classes

10 DR MYERS Well first of all as those

11 students arrive in the school various testing

12 will be done on those students TABE testing also

13 WRAT4 testing and various things We would look

14 at the matrix of where the kid came from

15 We have a child now that came to us Georgia

16 from one of the schools in Georgia where he was

17 functioning at a lower level The WRAT4 which is

18 designed to motivate the child and test the child

19 TABE test then we get a matrix from that and we

20 set a curriculum for -- excuse me -- we set the

21 curriculum for the child give the child

22 appropriate courses that the child has already

23 taken or retake again

24 So we move the child in small groups which

25 would be one-on-one learning or it could be group

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1 learning activities The chairs in the classroom

2 are set up and a table where one to one and one to

3 one where the child can model the other child and

4 move forward

5 The APEX curriculum which is used in Duval

6 County Public Schools they just finished using

7 the APEX curriculum in one of their failing

8 schools which moved -- increased the grade two

9 grades -- I think one or two grades at Andrew

10 Jackson High School They have the APEX They

11 have several schools in Duval County thats using

12 the APEX curriculum So its a Florida curriculum

13 that is being used

14 As they expressed the application -- when I

15 looked at the application since I was using the

16 APEX curriculum I said okay why not modify this

17 and put it back into context where its being

18 used So what were doing is we just wrote the

19 application in regards to what they wanted They

20 wanted APEX We put the APEX in there Its a

21 proven fact that its successful in their public

22 schools

23 MS ALEXANDER Can you answer her questions

24 I think which is how you are going to move the low

25 learners up to eventually taking the AP test

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1 DR MYERS Right Im sorry I know I only

2 have a few more minutes or a few seconds But

3 eventually as they progress in each area in math

4 science social studies then we test again So

5 we test at the beginning test at the end

6 And as they -- at the midterm level it tells

7 us whether or not theyre going to be remediated

8 in the course or move forward As they move

9 forward we get the curriculum more rigorous again

10 for them and the next course which is in line so

11 basically one on one and group learning is

12 efficient for them Theyre going to have to take

13 the same courses but if theyre testing at lower

14 levels thats where the individualized

15 instruction will help them

16 Did I answer it

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

18 respond to that

19 MR McDUFFIE Ms Bowen would like to

20 respond But I just want to make it also clear

21 that that -- what was just explained verbally is

22 not in the application

23 MS BOWEN The APEX curriculum is about a

24 curriculum for a set population of students as

25 well as the TABE Assessment they test and measure

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1 students basic skills The expectation under the

2 Common Core the FCAT 20 far exceeds that

3 curriculum And yes we have used it with some

4 of our most lowest performing students and Andrew

5 Jackson did make some gains but they still have

6 19 percent of their students are reading

7 proficiently

8 So my concern is with that curriculum I know

9 that there is something that you needed to have a

10 better indication that was going to provide the

11 teacher with a clear pathway of how to meet those

12 gaps By giving me an assessment thats only

13 measuring my minimum skills it does not

14 demonstrate the expectation of the Lexile level

15 thats required for a college entrance And on

16 Page 39 of his application it clearly states for

17 students who are interested in pre-med coursework

18 The expectation for reading cannot be

19 provided with the diagnosis information that you

20 get with a TABE Assessment or an APEX curriculum

21 Page 10 -- Im sorry I said Page 39 its stuck

22 in my head for some reason -- but on Page 10 it

23 talks about pre-med students and the other

24 innovative -- because thats what hes saying

25 its one of the innovative factors of this

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1 program

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you Are there other

3 questions from the Commission members

4 MS BRADLEY I have a question

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Verdya

6 MS BRADLEY My question is for the school

7 the applicant Is this a solely online program

8 DR MYERS No maam Its basically online

9 and direct instruction

10 MS BRADLEY Do you discuss direct

11 instruction in here

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY The reason that I ask that

14 question is the questions in the application asks

15 specifically for a description of the curriculum

16 a description of the reading program And in your

17 responses your responses pretty much tie back to

18 the APEX curriculum so it appears that it is

19 solely reliant on And then all of the

20 documentation that you gave was from the APEX

21 program So I was just wondering is it just

22 solely online

23 DR MYERS The majority of it but theres a

24 piece where the direct instruction is in place

25 with the child because the children are culled

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1 out for the particular course learning for the

2 subject area that theyre doing The regular

3 curriculum comes in -- the APEX Lexile learning

4 comes in Everything is designed where its

5 implemented on the laptop for the child If the

6 child needs direct instruction the child is

7 culled out into an environment where he or she

8 receives the one-on-one instruction

9 MS BRADLEY Did you discuss that in here

10 DR MYERS Im pretty sure I did

11 MS ALEXANDER What page are you looking at

12 for these

13 MS BRADLEY Well it kind of goes back and

14 forth It starts on Page 16 where it starts

15 talking about the educational program and then it

16 gives me probably about 20 30 pages on APEX and

17 then it goes into the reading curriculum But Im

18 not seeing anywhere where theres any supplement

19 to that

20 Because even the question on Page 16 was

21 Describe the proposed reading or educational

22 program it sort of goes through elements of the

23 APEX program Then on Page 68 it says Describe

24 the reading curriculum

25 DR MYERS Yes maam If you look at

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1 the -shy

2 MS HITCHCOCK Stand up please

3 DR MYERS Im sorry

4 CHAIRMAN CHU If you could come to the mic

5 that would be very helpful because our court

6 reporter is trying to get it all down

7 DR MYERS Im sorry The bullet there

8 says Direct instruction individual and small

9 group instruction led by highly-qualified

10 teachers

11 MS ESPOSITO Say the page

12 MS BRADLEY Thats on Page 16 But its

13 just part of the -- its sort of an isolated

14 bullet but it doesnt explain it any further than

15 that You know it doesnt tell me that there is

16 going to be a pull-out portion

17 DR MYERS Right But as I stated I just

18 put a little piece in there because thats just a

19 little piece of the curriculum and thats why I

20 just mentioned a little piece of it there The

21 majority of it is an online based curriculum

22 MS HODGENS I have a question for the

23 school

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

25 MS HODGENS I am confused on the targeted

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1 population Im trying to get it on the motion

2 sheet so Im going to go to targeted population

3 first And I am a little confused on it because I

4 can read what you say on Page 12 And on Page 12

5 you talk about being open to all students and

6 then you talk about low-performing students and

7 then you go back to all students

8 And then when I go to Page 41 the curriculum

9 design you talk about students needing credit

10 recovery And then I continue on and I see AP

11 courses honor courses And again I dont want

12 to allude that I dont believe that kids can do

13 those courses but I want to understand what

14 population youre really looking at

15 DR MYERS Were looking at all students

16 within that demographic And within the

17 demographics it is a lower level You have lower

18 level one level two basically they are coming

19 from the downtown sector area within that 5-mile

20 radius area of the downtown

21 So when I say all students because a

22 charter school cannot deny a student from applying

23 or coming in all students are accepted if they

24 can meet transportation needs to come to school

25 So as I expressed to you thats what

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1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

Page 31: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

31

1 principles target population educational program

2 design curriculum plan student performance

3 assessment and evaluation exceptional students

4 and English language learners

5 So the school if you want to have a couple

6 of minutes to speak directly to the educational

7 plan and then well give the district the same

8 amount of time

9 MS ALEXANDER Sure With respect to the

10 mission statement we believe that the denial was

11 not supported by competent substantial evidence in

12 any way For example the School Board alleges

13 that we didnt provide an adequate mission

14 statement or describe how the school utilizes

15 guiding principles

16 As you can kind of get the sense from hearing

17 Dr Myers hes got a pretty sophisticated sense

18 of mission And with respect to the mission

19 statement the application specifically says on

20 Page 4 The mission statement of the charter high

21 school is to provide an exemplary personalized

22 learning program in a supportive resource rich

23 contemporary learning environment Stephen Biko

24 Charter High School is dedicated to excellence and

25 committed to nurturing passionate lifelong

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1 learners

2 It also says that The school will meet the

3 high standards of student achievement by

4 supporting positive academic outcomes for students

5 by addressing the academic social economical -shy

6 Im sorry -- emotional and behavioral needs of

7 enrolled students And it says that High

8 standards will be evident which will offer parents

9 and guardians of students currently attending the

10 elementary and charter schools of Duval County the

11 flexibility to choose the school

12 So our view is that if you actually look at

13 the application there is a specific mission its

14 very clear and in fact weve met the standard

15 Just as an aside there was a reference to a

16 private school cant be a charter school

17 Dr Myers started the private school on donations

18 alone in the interim because he wanted to try to

19 start offering education to the average students

20 as quickly as possible He consulted with the DOE

21 and was told that in fact he could open up the

22 school and that if the charter is granted he

23 could transition from the private school into the

24 charter model so there isnt any prohibition

25 against how hes doing it

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1 But our view is if you look at the

2 application there is a clear mission its

3 outlined there and it did meet the standard So

4 thank you

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

6 District

7 DR MYERS Can I

8 CHAIRMAN CHU You have about 30 seconds

9 DR MYERS Thank you I contacted the

10 Department of Education and they expressed to me

11 that I have to close the school and once I close

12 the school every child has to apply So that was

13 done prior to opening up the private school

14 As they stated theres nowhere in that

15 application where it states (inaudible) So all

16 of these things are preposterous in what theyre

17 saying and its just things that theyre trying

18 to elaborate to make the application look bad

19 As I expressed to you Board members this

20 application was approved similar last year It

21 was the exact application So everything that

22 shes coming up with and all three of them does

23 not make sense it does not It does not weigh

24 this application God knows it does not And

25 they cannot give you sufficient reasons why

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1 Thats why they come in with all of these

2 fictitious false allegations against this

3 application Thats all theyre doing They

4 approved this application last year they did

5 And thats all Im asking for

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right District

7 MR McDUFFIE Just briefly and I will turn

8 the mic over to Ms Bowen

9 This is the second time youve heard that

10 there was a mirror application from last year I

11 would like to ask the Commission to go to Page 39

12 of the application There is a specific provision

13 in the application which says if the school

14 intends to replicate an existing school design

15 you are supposed to notify the district under E

16 and F in that section

17 In their application that section is blank

18 okay So they are replicating an existing school

19 design they did not notify us of that in the

20 application

21 And secondly that also takes away the

22 innovative factor of the school If theyre

23 replicating an existing school what is innovative

24 about their charter school

25 Just briefly again with respect to that

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1 private school the application is in the name of

2 Stephen Biko Private Charter School so it is a

3 private school that is making the application

4 MS BOWEN I would just like to add that if

5 there was an application that was approved last

6 year within the past five years we would be glad

7 to go back and look if theres a name thats

8 submitted for us to do reference But when we

9 looked through all of our prior applications we

10 could find no areas where there was similar an

11 exact model of an approved application that had

12 already been approved by the district

13 But to respond to point one as far as the

14 guiding principle section the mission statement

15 was general it was vague and it did not describe

16 meaningful or measurable priority It

17 inefficiently defines the values of the school and

18 was inconsistent with the appellants subsequent

19 educational program plan The question of the

20 guidance embedded within question one clearly says

21 that it should explain what the school intends to

22 do for whom and to what degree And I failed to

23 be able to fully answer all of those questions by

24 reading the statement

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Were going to have a QampA

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1 session so what were going to do now is let me

2 ask the Commission members do you have any

3 questions

4 MS BRUBAKER I would like to hear how

5 you -shy

6 DR MYERS Me

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes Dr Myers How you plan

8 on taking those low performing students to be able

9 to do dual enrollment or AP classes

10 DR MYERS Well first of all as those

11 students arrive in the school various testing

12 will be done on those students TABE testing also

13 WRAT4 testing and various things We would look

14 at the matrix of where the kid came from

15 We have a child now that came to us Georgia

16 from one of the schools in Georgia where he was

17 functioning at a lower level The WRAT4 which is

18 designed to motivate the child and test the child

19 TABE test then we get a matrix from that and we

20 set a curriculum for -- excuse me -- we set the

21 curriculum for the child give the child

22 appropriate courses that the child has already

23 taken or retake again

24 So we move the child in small groups which

25 would be one-on-one learning or it could be group

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1 learning activities The chairs in the classroom

2 are set up and a table where one to one and one to

3 one where the child can model the other child and

4 move forward

5 The APEX curriculum which is used in Duval

6 County Public Schools they just finished using

7 the APEX curriculum in one of their failing

8 schools which moved -- increased the grade two

9 grades -- I think one or two grades at Andrew

10 Jackson High School They have the APEX They

11 have several schools in Duval County thats using

12 the APEX curriculum So its a Florida curriculum

13 that is being used

14 As they expressed the application -- when I

15 looked at the application since I was using the

16 APEX curriculum I said okay why not modify this

17 and put it back into context where its being

18 used So what were doing is we just wrote the

19 application in regards to what they wanted They

20 wanted APEX We put the APEX in there Its a

21 proven fact that its successful in their public

22 schools

23 MS ALEXANDER Can you answer her questions

24 I think which is how you are going to move the low

25 learners up to eventually taking the AP test

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1 DR MYERS Right Im sorry I know I only

2 have a few more minutes or a few seconds But

3 eventually as they progress in each area in math

4 science social studies then we test again So

5 we test at the beginning test at the end

6 And as they -- at the midterm level it tells

7 us whether or not theyre going to be remediated

8 in the course or move forward As they move

9 forward we get the curriculum more rigorous again

10 for them and the next course which is in line so

11 basically one on one and group learning is

12 efficient for them Theyre going to have to take

13 the same courses but if theyre testing at lower

14 levels thats where the individualized

15 instruction will help them

16 Did I answer it

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

18 respond to that

19 MR McDUFFIE Ms Bowen would like to

20 respond But I just want to make it also clear

21 that that -- what was just explained verbally is

22 not in the application

23 MS BOWEN The APEX curriculum is about a

24 curriculum for a set population of students as

25 well as the TABE Assessment they test and measure

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1 students basic skills The expectation under the

2 Common Core the FCAT 20 far exceeds that

3 curriculum And yes we have used it with some

4 of our most lowest performing students and Andrew

5 Jackson did make some gains but they still have

6 19 percent of their students are reading

7 proficiently

8 So my concern is with that curriculum I know

9 that there is something that you needed to have a

10 better indication that was going to provide the

11 teacher with a clear pathway of how to meet those

12 gaps By giving me an assessment thats only

13 measuring my minimum skills it does not

14 demonstrate the expectation of the Lexile level

15 thats required for a college entrance And on

16 Page 39 of his application it clearly states for

17 students who are interested in pre-med coursework

18 The expectation for reading cannot be

19 provided with the diagnosis information that you

20 get with a TABE Assessment or an APEX curriculum

21 Page 10 -- Im sorry I said Page 39 its stuck

22 in my head for some reason -- but on Page 10 it

23 talks about pre-med students and the other

24 innovative -- because thats what hes saying

25 its one of the innovative factors of this

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1 program

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you Are there other

3 questions from the Commission members

4 MS BRADLEY I have a question

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Verdya

6 MS BRADLEY My question is for the school

7 the applicant Is this a solely online program

8 DR MYERS No maam Its basically online

9 and direct instruction

10 MS BRADLEY Do you discuss direct

11 instruction in here

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY The reason that I ask that

14 question is the questions in the application asks

15 specifically for a description of the curriculum

16 a description of the reading program And in your

17 responses your responses pretty much tie back to

18 the APEX curriculum so it appears that it is

19 solely reliant on And then all of the

20 documentation that you gave was from the APEX

21 program So I was just wondering is it just

22 solely online

23 DR MYERS The majority of it but theres a

24 piece where the direct instruction is in place

25 with the child because the children are culled

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1 out for the particular course learning for the

2 subject area that theyre doing The regular

3 curriculum comes in -- the APEX Lexile learning

4 comes in Everything is designed where its

5 implemented on the laptop for the child If the

6 child needs direct instruction the child is

7 culled out into an environment where he or she

8 receives the one-on-one instruction

9 MS BRADLEY Did you discuss that in here

10 DR MYERS Im pretty sure I did

11 MS ALEXANDER What page are you looking at

12 for these

13 MS BRADLEY Well it kind of goes back and

14 forth It starts on Page 16 where it starts

15 talking about the educational program and then it

16 gives me probably about 20 30 pages on APEX and

17 then it goes into the reading curriculum But Im

18 not seeing anywhere where theres any supplement

19 to that

20 Because even the question on Page 16 was

21 Describe the proposed reading or educational

22 program it sort of goes through elements of the

23 APEX program Then on Page 68 it says Describe

24 the reading curriculum

25 DR MYERS Yes maam If you look at

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1 the -shy

2 MS HITCHCOCK Stand up please

3 DR MYERS Im sorry

4 CHAIRMAN CHU If you could come to the mic

5 that would be very helpful because our court

6 reporter is trying to get it all down

7 DR MYERS Im sorry The bullet there

8 says Direct instruction individual and small

9 group instruction led by highly-qualified

10 teachers

11 MS ESPOSITO Say the page

12 MS BRADLEY Thats on Page 16 But its

13 just part of the -- its sort of an isolated

14 bullet but it doesnt explain it any further than

15 that You know it doesnt tell me that there is

16 going to be a pull-out portion

17 DR MYERS Right But as I stated I just

18 put a little piece in there because thats just a

19 little piece of the curriculum and thats why I

20 just mentioned a little piece of it there The

21 majority of it is an online based curriculum

22 MS HODGENS I have a question for the

23 school

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

25 MS HODGENS I am confused on the targeted

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1 population Im trying to get it on the motion

2 sheet so Im going to go to targeted population

3 first And I am a little confused on it because I

4 can read what you say on Page 12 And on Page 12

5 you talk about being open to all students and

6 then you talk about low-performing students and

7 then you go back to all students

8 And then when I go to Page 41 the curriculum

9 design you talk about students needing credit

10 recovery And then I continue on and I see AP

11 courses honor courses And again I dont want

12 to allude that I dont believe that kids can do

13 those courses but I want to understand what

14 population youre really looking at

15 DR MYERS Were looking at all students

16 within that demographic And within the

17 demographics it is a lower level You have lower

18 level one level two basically they are coming

19 from the downtown sector area within that 5-mile

20 radius area of the downtown

21 So when I say all students because a

22 charter school cannot deny a student from applying

23 or coming in all students are accepted if they

24 can meet transportation needs to come to school

25 So as I expressed to you thats what

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1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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Page 32: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

32

1 learners

2 It also says that The school will meet the

3 high standards of student achievement by

4 supporting positive academic outcomes for students

5 by addressing the academic social economical -shy

6 Im sorry -- emotional and behavioral needs of

7 enrolled students And it says that High

8 standards will be evident which will offer parents

9 and guardians of students currently attending the

10 elementary and charter schools of Duval County the

11 flexibility to choose the school

12 So our view is that if you actually look at

13 the application there is a specific mission its

14 very clear and in fact weve met the standard

15 Just as an aside there was a reference to a

16 private school cant be a charter school

17 Dr Myers started the private school on donations

18 alone in the interim because he wanted to try to

19 start offering education to the average students

20 as quickly as possible He consulted with the DOE

21 and was told that in fact he could open up the

22 school and that if the charter is granted he

23 could transition from the private school into the

24 charter model so there isnt any prohibition

25 against how hes doing it

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1 But our view is if you look at the

2 application there is a clear mission its

3 outlined there and it did meet the standard So

4 thank you

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

6 District

7 DR MYERS Can I

8 CHAIRMAN CHU You have about 30 seconds

9 DR MYERS Thank you I contacted the

10 Department of Education and they expressed to me

11 that I have to close the school and once I close

12 the school every child has to apply So that was

13 done prior to opening up the private school

14 As they stated theres nowhere in that

15 application where it states (inaudible) So all

16 of these things are preposterous in what theyre

17 saying and its just things that theyre trying

18 to elaborate to make the application look bad

19 As I expressed to you Board members this

20 application was approved similar last year It

21 was the exact application So everything that

22 shes coming up with and all three of them does

23 not make sense it does not It does not weigh

24 this application God knows it does not And

25 they cannot give you sufficient reasons why

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1 Thats why they come in with all of these

2 fictitious false allegations against this

3 application Thats all theyre doing They

4 approved this application last year they did

5 And thats all Im asking for

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right District

7 MR McDUFFIE Just briefly and I will turn

8 the mic over to Ms Bowen

9 This is the second time youve heard that

10 there was a mirror application from last year I

11 would like to ask the Commission to go to Page 39

12 of the application There is a specific provision

13 in the application which says if the school

14 intends to replicate an existing school design

15 you are supposed to notify the district under E

16 and F in that section

17 In their application that section is blank

18 okay So they are replicating an existing school

19 design they did not notify us of that in the

20 application

21 And secondly that also takes away the

22 innovative factor of the school If theyre

23 replicating an existing school what is innovative

24 about their charter school

25 Just briefly again with respect to that

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1 private school the application is in the name of

2 Stephen Biko Private Charter School so it is a

3 private school that is making the application

4 MS BOWEN I would just like to add that if

5 there was an application that was approved last

6 year within the past five years we would be glad

7 to go back and look if theres a name thats

8 submitted for us to do reference But when we

9 looked through all of our prior applications we

10 could find no areas where there was similar an

11 exact model of an approved application that had

12 already been approved by the district

13 But to respond to point one as far as the

14 guiding principle section the mission statement

15 was general it was vague and it did not describe

16 meaningful or measurable priority It

17 inefficiently defines the values of the school and

18 was inconsistent with the appellants subsequent

19 educational program plan The question of the

20 guidance embedded within question one clearly says

21 that it should explain what the school intends to

22 do for whom and to what degree And I failed to

23 be able to fully answer all of those questions by

24 reading the statement

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Were going to have a QampA

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1 session so what were going to do now is let me

2 ask the Commission members do you have any

3 questions

4 MS BRUBAKER I would like to hear how

5 you -shy

6 DR MYERS Me

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes Dr Myers How you plan

8 on taking those low performing students to be able

9 to do dual enrollment or AP classes

10 DR MYERS Well first of all as those

11 students arrive in the school various testing

12 will be done on those students TABE testing also

13 WRAT4 testing and various things We would look

14 at the matrix of where the kid came from

15 We have a child now that came to us Georgia

16 from one of the schools in Georgia where he was

17 functioning at a lower level The WRAT4 which is

18 designed to motivate the child and test the child

19 TABE test then we get a matrix from that and we

20 set a curriculum for -- excuse me -- we set the

21 curriculum for the child give the child

22 appropriate courses that the child has already

23 taken or retake again

24 So we move the child in small groups which

25 would be one-on-one learning or it could be group

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1 learning activities The chairs in the classroom

2 are set up and a table where one to one and one to

3 one where the child can model the other child and

4 move forward

5 The APEX curriculum which is used in Duval

6 County Public Schools they just finished using

7 the APEX curriculum in one of their failing

8 schools which moved -- increased the grade two

9 grades -- I think one or two grades at Andrew

10 Jackson High School They have the APEX They

11 have several schools in Duval County thats using

12 the APEX curriculum So its a Florida curriculum

13 that is being used

14 As they expressed the application -- when I

15 looked at the application since I was using the

16 APEX curriculum I said okay why not modify this

17 and put it back into context where its being

18 used So what were doing is we just wrote the

19 application in regards to what they wanted They

20 wanted APEX We put the APEX in there Its a

21 proven fact that its successful in their public

22 schools

23 MS ALEXANDER Can you answer her questions

24 I think which is how you are going to move the low

25 learners up to eventually taking the AP test

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1 DR MYERS Right Im sorry I know I only

2 have a few more minutes or a few seconds But

3 eventually as they progress in each area in math

4 science social studies then we test again So

5 we test at the beginning test at the end

6 And as they -- at the midterm level it tells

7 us whether or not theyre going to be remediated

8 in the course or move forward As they move

9 forward we get the curriculum more rigorous again

10 for them and the next course which is in line so

11 basically one on one and group learning is

12 efficient for them Theyre going to have to take

13 the same courses but if theyre testing at lower

14 levels thats where the individualized

15 instruction will help them

16 Did I answer it

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

18 respond to that

19 MR McDUFFIE Ms Bowen would like to

20 respond But I just want to make it also clear

21 that that -- what was just explained verbally is

22 not in the application

23 MS BOWEN The APEX curriculum is about a

24 curriculum for a set population of students as

25 well as the TABE Assessment they test and measure

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1 students basic skills The expectation under the

2 Common Core the FCAT 20 far exceeds that

3 curriculum And yes we have used it with some

4 of our most lowest performing students and Andrew

5 Jackson did make some gains but they still have

6 19 percent of their students are reading

7 proficiently

8 So my concern is with that curriculum I know

9 that there is something that you needed to have a

10 better indication that was going to provide the

11 teacher with a clear pathway of how to meet those

12 gaps By giving me an assessment thats only

13 measuring my minimum skills it does not

14 demonstrate the expectation of the Lexile level

15 thats required for a college entrance And on

16 Page 39 of his application it clearly states for

17 students who are interested in pre-med coursework

18 The expectation for reading cannot be

19 provided with the diagnosis information that you

20 get with a TABE Assessment or an APEX curriculum

21 Page 10 -- Im sorry I said Page 39 its stuck

22 in my head for some reason -- but on Page 10 it

23 talks about pre-med students and the other

24 innovative -- because thats what hes saying

25 its one of the innovative factors of this

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1 program

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you Are there other

3 questions from the Commission members

4 MS BRADLEY I have a question

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Verdya

6 MS BRADLEY My question is for the school

7 the applicant Is this a solely online program

8 DR MYERS No maam Its basically online

9 and direct instruction

10 MS BRADLEY Do you discuss direct

11 instruction in here

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY The reason that I ask that

14 question is the questions in the application asks

15 specifically for a description of the curriculum

16 a description of the reading program And in your

17 responses your responses pretty much tie back to

18 the APEX curriculum so it appears that it is

19 solely reliant on And then all of the

20 documentation that you gave was from the APEX

21 program So I was just wondering is it just

22 solely online

23 DR MYERS The majority of it but theres a

24 piece where the direct instruction is in place

25 with the child because the children are culled

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1 out for the particular course learning for the

2 subject area that theyre doing The regular

3 curriculum comes in -- the APEX Lexile learning

4 comes in Everything is designed where its

5 implemented on the laptop for the child If the

6 child needs direct instruction the child is

7 culled out into an environment where he or she

8 receives the one-on-one instruction

9 MS BRADLEY Did you discuss that in here

10 DR MYERS Im pretty sure I did

11 MS ALEXANDER What page are you looking at

12 for these

13 MS BRADLEY Well it kind of goes back and

14 forth It starts on Page 16 where it starts

15 talking about the educational program and then it

16 gives me probably about 20 30 pages on APEX and

17 then it goes into the reading curriculum But Im

18 not seeing anywhere where theres any supplement

19 to that

20 Because even the question on Page 16 was

21 Describe the proposed reading or educational

22 program it sort of goes through elements of the

23 APEX program Then on Page 68 it says Describe

24 the reading curriculum

25 DR MYERS Yes maam If you look at

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1 the -shy

2 MS HITCHCOCK Stand up please

3 DR MYERS Im sorry

4 CHAIRMAN CHU If you could come to the mic

5 that would be very helpful because our court

6 reporter is trying to get it all down

7 DR MYERS Im sorry The bullet there

8 says Direct instruction individual and small

9 group instruction led by highly-qualified

10 teachers

11 MS ESPOSITO Say the page

12 MS BRADLEY Thats on Page 16 But its

13 just part of the -- its sort of an isolated

14 bullet but it doesnt explain it any further than

15 that You know it doesnt tell me that there is

16 going to be a pull-out portion

17 DR MYERS Right But as I stated I just

18 put a little piece in there because thats just a

19 little piece of the curriculum and thats why I

20 just mentioned a little piece of it there The

21 majority of it is an online based curriculum

22 MS HODGENS I have a question for the

23 school

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

25 MS HODGENS I am confused on the targeted

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1 population Im trying to get it on the motion

2 sheet so Im going to go to targeted population

3 first And I am a little confused on it because I

4 can read what you say on Page 12 And on Page 12

5 you talk about being open to all students and

6 then you talk about low-performing students and

7 then you go back to all students

8 And then when I go to Page 41 the curriculum

9 design you talk about students needing credit

10 recovery And then I continue on and I see AP

11 courses honor courses And again I dont want

12 to allude that I dont believe that kids can do

13 those courses but I want to understand what

14 population youre really looking at

15 DR MYERS Were looking at all students

16 within that demographic And within the

17 demographics it is a lower level You have lower

18 level one level two basically they are coming

19 from the downtown sector area within that 5-mile

20 radius area of the downtown

21 So when I say all students because a

22 charter school cannot deny a student from applying

23 or coming in all students are accepted if they

24 can meet transportation needs to come to school

25 So as I expressed to you thats what

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1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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Page 33: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

33

1 But our view is if you look at the

2 application there is a clear mission its

3 outlined there and it did meet the standard So

4 thank you

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

6 District

7 DR MYERS Can I

8 CHAIRMAN CHU You have about 30 seconds

9 DR MYERS Thank you I contacted the

10 Department of Education and they expressed to me

11 that I have to close the school and once I close

12 the school every child has to apply So that was

13 done prior to opening up the private school

14 As they stated theres nowhere in that

15 application where it states (inaudible) So all

16 of these things are preposterous in what theyre

17 saying and its just things that theyre trying

18 to elaborate to make the application look bad

19 As I expressed to you Board members this

20 application was approved similar last year It

21 was the exact application So everything that

22 shes coming up with and all three of them does

23 not make sense it does not It does not weigh

24 this application God knows it does not And

25 they cannot give you sufficient reasons why

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1 Thats why they come in with all of these

2 fictitious false allegations against this

3 application Thats all theyre doing They

4 approved this application last year they did

5 And thats all Im asking for

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right District

7 MR McDUFFIE Just briefly and I will turn

8 the mic over to Ms Bowen

9 This is the second time youve heard that

10 there was a mirror application from last year I

11 would like to ask the Commission to go to Page 39

12 of the application There is a specific provision

13 in the application which says if the school

14 intends to replicate an existing school design

15 you are supposed to notify the district under E

16 and F in that section

17 In their application that section is blank

18 okay So they are replicating an existing school

19 design they did not notify us of that in the

20 application

21 And secondly that also takes away the

22 innovative factor of the school If theyre

23 replicating an existing school what is innovative

24 about their charter school

25 Just briefly again with respect to that

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1 private school the application is in the name of

2 Stephen Biko Private Charter School so it is a

3 private school that is making the application

4 MS BOWEN I would just like to add that if

5 there was an application that was approved last

6 year within the past five years we would be glad

7 to go back and look if theres a name thats

8 submitted for us to do reference But when we

9 looked through all of our prior applications we

10 could find no areas where there was similar an

11 exact model of an approved application that had

12 already been approved by the district

13 But to respond to point one as far as the

14 guiding principle section the mission statement

15 was general it was vague and it did not describe

16 meaningful or measurable priority It

17 inefficiently defines the values of the school and

18 was inconsistent with the appellants subsequent

19 educational program plan The question of the

20 guidance embedded within question one clearly says

21 that it should explain what the school intends to

22 do for whom and to what degree And I failed to

23 be able to fully answer all of those questions by

24 reading the statement

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Were going to have a QampA

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1 session so what were going to do now is let me

2 ask the Commission members do you have any

3 questions

4 MS BRUBAKER I would like to hear how

5 you -shy

6 DR MYERS Me

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes Dr Myers How you plan

8 on taking those low performing students to be able

9 to do dual enrollment or AP classes

10 DR MYERS Well first of all as those

11 students arrive in the school various testing

12 will be done on those students TABE testing also

13 WRAT4 testing and various things We would look

14 at the matrix of where the kid came from

15 We have a child now that came to us Georgia

16 from one of the schools in Georgia where he was

17 functioning at a lower level The WRAT4 which is

18 designed to motivate the child and test the child

19 TABE test then we get a matrix from that and we

20 set a curriculum for -- excuse me -- we set the

21 curriculum for the child give the child

22 appropriate courses that the child has already

23 taken or retake again

24 So we move the child in small groups which

25 would be one-on-one learning or it could be group

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1 learning activities The chairs in the classroom

2 are set up and a table where one to one and one to

3 one where the child can model the other child and

4 move forward

5 The APEX curriculum which is used in Duval

6 County Public Schools they just finished using

7 the APEX curriculum in one of their failing

8 schools which moved -- increased the grade two

9 grades -- I think one or two grades at Andrew

10 Jackson High School They have the APEX They

11 have several schools in Duval County thats using

12 the APEX curriculum So its a Florida curriculum

13 that is being used

14 As they expressed the application -- when I

15 looked at the application since I was using the

16 APEX curriculum I said okay why not modify this

17 and put it back into context where its being

18 used So what were doing is we just wrote the

19 application in regards to what they wanted They

20 wanted APEX We put the APEX in there Its a

21 proven fact that its successful in their public

22 schools

23 MS ALEXANDER Can you answer her questions

24 I think which is how you are going to move the low

25 learners up to eventually taking the AP test

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1 DR MYERS Right Im sorry I know I only

2 have a few more minutes or a few seconds But

3 eventually as they progress in each area in math

4 science social studies then we test again So

5 we test at the beginning test at the end

6 And as they -- at the midterm level it tells

7 us whether or not theyre going to be remediated

8 in the course or move forward As they move

9 forward we get the curriculum more rigorous again

10 for them and the next course which is in line so

11 basically one on one and group learning is

12 efficient for them Theyre going to have to take

13 the same courses but if theyre testing at lower

14 levels thats where the individualized

15 instruction will help them

16 Did I answer it

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

18 respond to that

19 MR McDUFFIE Ms Bowen would like to

20 respond But I just want to make it also clear

21 that that -- what was just explained verbally is

22 not in the application

23 MS BOWEN The APEX curriculum is about a

24 curriculum for a set population of students as

25 well as the TABE Assessment they test and measure

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1 students basic skills The expectation under the

2 Common Core the FCAT 20 far exceeds that

3 curriculum And yes we have used it with some

4 of our most lowest performing students and Andrew

5 Jackson did make some gains but they still have

6 19 percent of their students are reading

7 proficiently

8 So my concern is with that curriculum I know

9 that there is something that you needed to have a

10 better indication that was going to provide the

11 teacher with a clear pathway of how to meet those

12 gaps By giving me an assessment thats only

13 measuring my minimum skills it does not

14 demonstrate the expectation of the Lexile level

15 thats required for a college entrance And on

16 Page 39 of his application it clearly states for

17 students who are interested in pre-med coursework

18 The expectation for reading cannot be

19 provided with the diagnosis information that you

20 get with a TABE Assessment or an APEX curriculum

21 Page 10 -- Im sorry I said Page 39 its stuck

22 in my head for some reason -- but on Page 10 it

23 talks about pre-med students and the other

24 innovative -- because thats what hes saying

25 its one of the innovative factors of this

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1 program

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you Are there other

3 questions from the Commission members

4 MS BRADLEY I have a question

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Verdya

6 MS BRADLEY My question is for the school

7 the applicant Is this a solely online program

8 DR MYERS No maam Its basically online

9 and direct instruction

10 MS BRADLEY Do you discuss direct

11 instruction in here

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY The reason that I ask that

14 question is the questions in the application asks

15 specifically for a description of the curriculum

16 a description of the reading program And in your

17 responses your responses pretty much tie back to

18 the APEX curriculum so it appears that it is

19 solely reliant on And then all of the

20 documentation that you gave was from the APEX

21 program So I was just wondering is it just

22 solely online

23 DR MYERS The majority of it but theres a

24 piece where the direct instruction is in place

25 with the child because the children are culled

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1 out for the particular course learning for the

2 subject area that theyre doing The regular

3 curriculum comes in -- the APEX Lexile learning

4 comes in Everything is designed where its

5 implemented on the laptop for the child If the

6 child needs direct instruction the child is

7 culled out into an environment where he or she

8 receives the one-on-one instruction

9 MS BRADLEY Did you discuss that in here

10 DR MYERS Im pretty sure I did

11 MS ALEXANDER What page are you looking at

12 for these

13 MS BRADLEY Well it kind of goes back and

14 forth It starts on Page 16 where it starts

15 talking about the educational program and then it

16 gives me probably about 20 30 pages on APEX and

17 then it goes into the reading curriculum But Im

18 not seeing anywhere where theres any supplement

19 to that

20 Because even the question on Page 16 was

21 Describe the proposed reading or educational

22 program it sort of goes through elements of the

23 APEX program Then on Page 68 it says Describe

24 the reading curriculum

25 DR MYERS Yes maam If you look at

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1 the -shy

2 MS HITCHCOCK Stand up please

3 DR MYERS Im sorry

4 CHAIRMAN CHU If you could come to the mic

5 that would be very helpful because our court

6 reporter is trying to get it all down

7 DR MYERS Im sorry The bullet there

8 says Direct instruction individual and small

9 group instruction led by highly-qualified

10 teachers

11 MS ESPOSITO Say the page

12 MS BRADLEY Thats on Page 16 But its

13 just part of the -- its sort of an isolated

14 bullet but it doesnt explain it any further than

15 that You know it doesnt tell me that there is

16 going to be a pull-out portion

17 DR MYERS Right But as I stated I just

18 put a little piece in there because thats just a

19 little piece of the curriculum and thats why I

20 just mentioned a little piece of it there The

21 majority of it is an online based curriculum

22 MS HODGENS I have a question for the

23 school

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

25 MS HODGENS I am confused on the targeted

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1 population Im trying to get it on the motion

2 sheet so Im going to go to targeted population

3 first And I am a little confused on it because I

4 can read what you say on Page 12 And on Page 12

5 you talk about being open to all students and

6 then you talk about low-performing students and

7 then you go back to all students

8 And then when I go to Page 41 the curriculum

9 design you talk about students needing credit

10 recovery And then I continue on and I see AP

11 courses honor courses And again I dont want

12 to allude that I dont believe that kids can do

13 those courses but I want to understand what

14 population youre really looking at

15 DR MYERS Were looking at all students

16 within that demographic And within the

17 demographics it is a lower level You have lower

18 level one level two basically they are coming

19 from the downtown sector area within that 5-mile

20 radius area of the downtown

21 So when I say all students because a

22 charter school cannot deny a student from applying

23 or coming in all students are accepted if they

24 can meet transportation needs to come to school

25 So as I expressed to you thats what

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1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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Page 34: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

34

1 Thats why they come in with all of these

2 fictitious false allegations against this

3 application Thats all theyre doing They

4 approved this application last year they did

5 And thats all Im asking for

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right District

7 MR McDUFFIE Just briefly and I will turn

8 the mic over to Ms Bowen

9 This is the second time youve heard that

10 there was a mirror application from last year I

11 would like to ask the Commission to go to Page 39

12 of the application There is a specific provision

13 in the application which says if the school

14 intends to replicate an existing school design

15 you are supposed to notify the district under E

16 and F in that section

17 In their application that section is blank

18 okay So they are replicating an existing school

19 design they did not notify us of that in the

20 application

21 And secondly that also takes away the

22 innovative factor of the school If theyre

23 replicating an existing school what is innovative

24 about their charter school

25 Just briefly again with respect to that

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1 private school the application is in the name of

2 Stephen Biko Private Charter School so it is a

3 private school that is making the application

4 MS BOWEN I would just like to add that if

5 there was an application that was approved last

6 year within the past five years we would be glad

7 to go back and look if theres a name thats

8 submitted for us to do reference But when we

9 looked through all of our prior applications we

10 could find no areas where there was similar an

11 exact model of an approved application that had

12 already been approved by the district

13 But to respond to point one as far as the

14 guiding principle section the mission statement

15 was general it was vague and it did not describe

16 meaningful or measurable priority It

17 inefficiently defines the values of the school and

18 was inconsistent with the appellants subsequent

19 educational program plan The question of the

20 guidance embedded within question one clearly says

21 that it should explain what the school intends to

22 do for whom and to what degree And I failed to

23 be able to fully answer all of those questions by

24 reading the statement

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Were going to have a QampA

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1 session so what were going to do now is let me

2 ask the Commission members do you have any

3 questions

4 MS BRUBAKER I would like to hear how

5 you -shy

6 DR MYERS Me

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes Dr Myers How you plan

8 on taking those low performing students to be able

9 to do dual enrollment or AP classes

10 DR MYERS Well first of all as those

11 students arrive in the school various testing

12 will be done on those students TABE testing also

13 WRAT4 testing and various things We would look

14 at the matrix of where the kid came from

15 We have a child now that came to us Georgia

16 from one of the schools in Georgia where he was

17 functioning at a lower level The WRAT4 which is

18 designed to motivate the child and test the child

19 TABE test then we get a matrix from that and we

20 set a curriculum for -- excuse me -- we set the

21 curriculum for the child give the child

22 appropriate courses that the child has already

23 taken or retake again

24 So we move the child in small groups which

25 would be one-on-one learning or it could be group

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1 learning activities The chairs in the classroom

2 are set up and a table where one to one and one to

3 one where the child can model the other child and

4 move forward

5 The APEX curriculum which is used in Duval

6 County Public Schools they just finished using

7 the APEX curriculum in one of their failing

8 schools which moved -- increased the grade two

9 grades -- I think one or two grades at Andrew

10 Jackson High School They have the APEX They

11 have several schools in Duval County thats using

12 the APEX curriculum So its a Florida curriculum

13 that is being used

14 As they expressed the application -- when I

15 looked at the application since I was using the

16 APEX curriculum I said okay why not modify this

17 and put it back into context where its being

18 used So what were doing is we just wrote the

19 application in regards to what they wanted They

20 wanted APEX We put the APEX in there Its a

21 proven fact that its successful in their public

22 schools

23 MS ALEXANDER Can you answer her questions

24 I think which is how you are going to move the low

25 learners up to eventually taking the AP test

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1 DR MYERS Right Im sorry I know I only

2 have a few more minutes or a few seconds But

3 eventually as they progress in each area in math

4 science social studies then we test again So

5 we test at the beginning test at the end

6 And as they -- at the midterm level it tells

7 us whether or not theyre going to be remediated

8 in the course or move forward As they move

9 forward we get the curriculum more rigorous again

10 for them and the next course which is in line so

11 basically one on one and group learning is

12 efficient for them Theyre going to have to take

13 the same courses but if theyre testing at lower

14 levels thats where the individualized

15 instruction will help them

16 Did I answer it

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

18 respond to that

19 MR McDUFFIE Ms Bowen would like to

20 respond But I just want to make it also clear

21 that that -- what was just explained verbally is

22 not in the application

23 MS BOWEN The APEX curriculum is about a

24 curriculum for a set population of students as

25 well as the TABE Assessment they test and measure

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1 students basic skills The expectation under the

2 Common Core the FCAT 20 far exceeds that

3 curriculum And yes we have used it with some

4 of our most lowest performing students and Andrew

5 Jackson did make some gains but they still have

6 19 percent of their students are reading

7 proficiently

8 So my concern is with that curriculum I know

9 that there is something that you needed to have a

10 better indication that was going to provide the

11 teacher with a clear pathway of how to meet those

12 gaps By giving me an assessment thats only

13 measuring my minimum skills it does not

14 demonstrate the expectation of the Lexile level

15 thats required for a college entrance And on

16 Page 39 of his application it clearly states for

17 students who are interested in pre-med coursework

18 The expectation for reading cannot be

19 provided with the diagnosis information that you

20 get with a TABE Assessment or an APEX curriculum

21 Page 10 -- Im sorry I said Page 39 its stuck

22 in my head for some reason -- but on Page 10 it

23 talks about pre-med students and the other

24 innovative -- because thats what hes saying

25 its one of the innovative factors of this

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1 program

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you Are there other

3 questions from the Commission members

4 MS BRADLEY I have a question

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Verdya

6 MS BRADLEY My question is for the school

7 the applicant Is this a solely online program

8 DR MYERS No maam Its basically online

9 and direct instruction

10 MS BRADLEY Do you discuss direct

11 instruction in here

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY The reason that I ask that

14 question is the questions in the application asks

15 specifically for a description of the curriculum

16 a description of the reading program And in your

17 responses your responses pretty much tie back to

18 the APEX curriculum so it appears that it is

19 solely reliant on And then all of the

20 documentation that you gave was from the APEX

21 program So I was just wondering is it just

22 solely online

23 DR MYERS The majority of it but theres a

24 piece where the direct instruction is in place

25 with the child because the children are culled

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1 out for the particular course learning for the

2 subject area that theyre doing The regular

3 curriculum comes in -- the APEX Lexile learning

4 comes in Everything is designed where its

5 implemented on the laptop for the child If the

6 child needs direct instruction the child is

7 culled out into an environment where he or she

8 receives the one-on-one instruction

9 MS BRADLEY Did you discuss that in here

10 DR MYERS Im pretty sure I did

11 MS ALEXANDER What page are you looking at

12 for these

13 MS BRADLEY Well it kind of goes back and

14 forth It starts on Page 16 where it starts

15 talking about the educational program and then it

16 gives me probably about 20 30 pages on APEX and

17 then it goes into the reading curriculum But Im

18 not seeing anywhere where theres any supplement

19 to that

20 Because even the question on Page 16 was

21 Describe the proposed reading or educational

22 program it sort of goes through elements of the

23 APEX program Then on Page 68 it says Describe

24 the reading curriculum

25 DR MYERS Yes maam If you look at

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1 the -shy

2 MS HITCHCOCK Stand up please

3 DR MYERS Im sorry

4 CHAIRMAN CHU If you could come to the mic

5 that would be very helpful because our court

6 reporter is trying to get it all down

7 DR MYERS Im sorry The bullet there

8 says Direct instruction individual and small

9 group instruction led by highly-qualified

10 teachers

11 MS ESPOSITO Say the page

12 MS BRADLEY Thats on Page 16 But its

13 just part of the -- its sort of an isolated

14 bullet but it doesnt explain it any further than

15 that You know it doesnt tell me that there is

16 going to be a pull-out portion

17 DR MYERS Right But as I stated I just

18 put a little piece in there because thats just a

19 little piece of the curriculum and thats why I

20 just mentioned a little piece of it there The

21 majority of it is an online based curriculum

22 MS HODGENS I have a question for the

23 school

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

25 MS HODGENS I am confused on the targeted

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1 population Im trying to get it on the motion

2 sheet so Im going to go to targeted population

3 first And I am a little confused on it because I

4 can read what you say on Page 12 And on Page 12

5 you talk about being open to all students and

6 then you talk about low-performing students and

7 then you go back to all students

8 And then when I go to Page 41 the curriculum

9 design you talk about students needing credit

10 recovery And then I continue on and I see AP

11 courses honor courses And again I dont want

12 to allude that I dont believe that kids can do

13 those courses but I want to understand what

14 population youre really looking at

15 DR MYERS Were looking at all students

16 within that demographic And within the

17 demographics it is a lower level You have lower

18 level one level two basically they are coming

19 from the downtown sector area within that 5-mile

20 radius area of the downtown

21 So when I say all students because a

22 charter school cannot deny a student from applying

23 or coming in all students are accepted if they

24 can meet transportation needs to come to school

25 So as I expressed to you thats what

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1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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Page 35: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

35

1 private school the application is in the name of

2 Stephen Biko Private Charter School so it is a

3 private school that is making the application

4 MS BOWEN I would just like to add that if

5 there was an application that was approved last

6 year within the past five years we would be glad

7 to go back and look if theres a name thats

8 submitted for us to do reference But when we

9 looked through all of our prior applications we

10 could find no areas where there was similar an

11 exact model of an approved application that had

12 already been approved by the district

13 But to respond to point one as far as the

14 guiding principle section the mission statement

15 was general it was vague and it did not describe

16 meaningful or measurable priority It

17 inefficiently defines the values of the school and

18 was inconsistent with the appellants subsequent

19 educational program plan The question of the

20 guidance embedded within question one clearly says

21 that it should explain what the school intends to

22 do for whom and to what degree And I failed to

23 be able to fully answer all of those questions by

24 reading the statement

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Were going to have a QampA

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1 session so what were going to do now is let me

2 ask the Commission members do you have any

3 questions

4 MS BRUBAKER I would like to hear how

5 you -shy

6 DR MYERS Me

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes Dr Myers How you plan

8 on taking those low performing students to be able

9 to do dual enrollment or AP classes

10 DR MYERS Well first of all as those

11 students arrive in the school various testing

12 will be done on those students TABE testing also

13 WRAT4 testing and various things We would look

14 at the matrix of where the kid came from

15 We have a child now that came to us Georgia

16 from one of the schools in Georgia where he was

17 functioning at a lower level The WRAT4 which is

18 designed to motivate the child and test the child

19 TABE test then we get a matrix from that and we

20 set a curriculum for -- excuse me -- we set the

21 curriculum for the child give the child

22 appropriate courses that the child has already

23 taken or retake again

24 So we move the child in small groups which

25 would be one-on-one learning or it could be group

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1 learning activities The chairs in the classroom

2 are set up and a table where one to one and one to

3 one where the child can model the other child and

4 move forward

5 The APEX curriculum which is used in Duval

6 County Public Schools they just finished using

7 the APEX curriculum in one of their failing

8 schools which moved -- increased the grade two

9 grades -- I think one or two grades at Andrew

10 Jackson High School They have the APEX They

11 have several schools in Duval County thats using

12 the APEX curriculum So its a Florida curriculum

13 that is being used

14 As they expressed the application -- when I

15 looked at the application since I was using the

16 APEX curriculum I said okay why not modify this

17 and put it back into context where its being

18 used So what were doing is we just wrote the

19 application in regards to what they wanted They

20 wanted APEX We put the APEX in there Its a

21 proven fact that its successful in their public

22 schools

23 MS ALEXANDER Can you answer her questions

24 I think which is how you are going to move the low

25 learners up to eventually taking the AP test

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1 DR MYERS Right Im sorry I know I only

2 have a few more minutes or a few seconds But

3 eventually as they progress in each area in math

4 science social studies then we test again So

5 we test at the beginning test at the end

6 And as they -- at the midterm level it tells

7 us whether or not theyre going to be remediated

8 in the course or move forward As they move

9 forward we get the curriculum more rigorous again

10 for them and the next course which is in line so

11 basically one on one and group learning is

12 efficient for them Theyre going to have to take

13 the same courses but if theyre testing at lower

14 levels thats where the individualized

15 instruction will help them

16 Did I answer it

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

18 respond to that

19 MR McDUFFIE Ms Bowen would like to

20 respond But I just want to make it also clear

21 that that -- what was just explained verbally is

22 not in the application

23 MS BOWEN The APEX curriculum is about a

24 curriculum for a set population of students as

25 well as the TABE Assessment they test and measure

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1 students basic skills The expectation under the

2 Common Core the FCAT 20 far exceeds that

3 curriculum And yes we have used it with some

4 of our most lowest performing students and Andrew

5 Jackson did make some gains but they still have

6 19 percent of their students are reading

7 proficiently

8 So my concern is with that curriculum I know

9 that there is something that you needed to have a

10 better indication that was going to provide the

11 teacher with a clear pathway of how to meet those

12 gaps By giving me an assessment thats only

13 measuring my minimum skills it does not

14 demonstrate the expectation of the Lexile level

15 thats required for a college entrance And on

16 Page 39 of his application it clearly states for

17 students who are interested in pre-med coursework

18 The expectation for reading cannot be

19 provided with the diagnosis information that you

20 get with a TABE Assessment or an APEX curriculum

21 Page 10 -- Im sorry I said Page 39 its stuck

22 in my head for some reason -- but on Page 10 it

23 talks about pre-med students and the other

24 innovative -- because thats what hes saying

25 its one of the innovative factors of this

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1 program

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you Are there other

3 questions from the Commission members

4 MS BRADLEY I have a question

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Verdya

6 MS BRADLEY My question is for the school

7 the applicant Is this a solely online program

8 DR MYERS No maam Its basically online

9 and direct instruction

10 MS BRADLEY Do you discuss direct

11 instruction in here

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY The reason that I ask that

14 question is the questions in the application asks

15 specifically for a description of the curriculum

16 a description of the reading program And in your

17 responses your responses pretty much tie back to

18 the APEX curriculum so it appears that it is

19 solely reliant on And then all of the

20 documentation that you gave was from the APEX

21 program So I was just wondering is it just

22 solely online

23 DR MYERS The majority of it but theres a

24 piece where the direct instruction is in place

25 with the child because the children are culled

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1 out for the particular course learning for the

2 subject area that theyre doing The regular

3 curriculum comes in -- the APEX Lexile learning

4 comes in Everything is designed where its

5 implemented on the laptop for the child If the

6 child needs direct instruction the child is

7 culled out into an environment where he or she

8 receives the one-on-one instruction

9 MS BRADLEY Did you discuss that in here

10 DR MYERS Im pretty sure I did

11 MS ALEXANDER What page are you looking at

12 for these

13 MS BRADLEY Well it kind of goes back and

14 forth It starts on Page 16 where it starts

15 talking about the educational program and then it

16 gives me probably about 20 30 pages on APEX and

17 then it goes into the reading curriculum But Im

18 not seeing anywhere where theres any supplement

19 to that

20 Because even the question on Page 16 was

21 Describe the proposed reading or educational

22 program it sort of goes through elements of the

23 APEX program Then on Page 68 it says Describe

24 the reading curriculum

25 DR MYERS Yes maam If you look at

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1 the -shy

2 MS HITCHCOCK Stand up please

3 DR MYERS Im sorry

4 CHAIRMAN CHU If you could come to the mic

5 that would be very helpful because our court

6 reporter is trying to get it all down

7 DR MYERS Im sorry The bullet there

8 says Direct instruction individual and small

9 group instruction led by highly-qualified

10 teachers

11 MS ESPOSITO Say the page

12 MS BRADLEY Thats on Page 16 But its

13 just part of the -- its sort of an isolated

14 bullet but it doesnt explain it any further than

15 that You know it doesnt tell me that there is

16 going to be a pull-out portion

17 DR MYERS Right But as I stated I just

18 put a little piece in there because thats just a

19 little piece of the curriculum and thats why I

20 just mentioned a little piece of it there The

21 majority of it is an online based curriculum

22 MS HODGENS I have a question for the

23 school

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

25 MS HODGENS I am confused on the targeted

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1 population Im trying to get it on the motion

2 sheet so Im going to go to targeted population

3 first And I am a little confused on it because I

4 can read what you say on Page 12 And on Page 12

5 you talk about being open to all students and

6 then you talk about low-performing students and

7 then you go back to all students

8 And then when I go to Page 41 the curriculum

9 design you talk about students needing credit

10 recovery And then I continue on and I see AP

11 courses honor courses And again I dont want

12 to allude that I dont believe that kids can do

13 those courses but I want to understand what

14 population youre really looking at

15 DR MYERS Were looking at all students

16 within that demographic And within the

17 demographics it is a lower level You have lower

18 level one level two basically they are coming

19 from the downtown sector area within that 5-mile

20 radius area of the downtown

21 So when I say all students because a

22 charter school cannot deny a student from applying

23 or coming in all students are accepted if they

24 can meet transportation needs to come to school

25 So as I expressed to you thats what

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1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

Page 36: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

36

1 session so what were going to do now is let me

2 ask the Commission members do you have any

3 questions

4 MS BRUBAKER I would like to hear how

5 you -shy

6 DR MYERS Me

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes Dr Myers How you plan

8 on taking those low performing students to be able

9 to do dual enrollment or AP classes

10 DR MYERS Well first of all as those

11 students arrive in the school various testing

12 will be done on those students TABE testing also

13 WRAT4 testing and various things We would look

14 at the matrix of where the kid came from

15 We have a child now that came to us Georgia

16 from one of the schools in Georgia where he was

17 functioning at a lower level The WRAT4 which is

18 designed to motivate the child and test the child

19 TABE test then we get a matrix from that and we

20 set a curriculum for -- excuse me -- we set the

21 curriculum for the child give the child

22 appropriate courses that the child has already

23 taken or retake again

24 So we move the child in small groups which

25 would be one-on-one learning or it could be group

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1 learning activities The chairs in the classroom

2 are set up and a table where one to one and one to

3 one where the child can model the other child and

4 move forward

5 The APEX curriculum which is used in Duval

6 County Public Schools they just finished using

7 the APEX curriculum in one of their failing

8 schools which moved -- increased the grade two

9 grades -- I think one or two grades at Andrew

10 Jackson High School They have the APEX They

11 have several schools in Duval County thats using

12 the APEX curriculum So its a Florida curriculum

13 that is being used

14 As they expressed the application -- when I

15 looked at the application since I was using the

16 APEX curriculum I said okay why not modify this

17 and put it back into context where its being

18 used So what were doing is we just wrote the

19 application in regards to what they wanted They

20 wanted APEX We put the APEX in there Its a

21 proven fact that its successful in their public

22 schools

23 MS ALEXANDER Can you answer her questions

24 I think which is how you are going to move the low

25 learners up to eventually taking the AP test

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1 DR MYERS Right Im sorry I know I only

2 have a few more minutes or a few seconds But

3 eventually as they progress in each area in math

4 science social studies then we test again So

5 we test at the beginning test at the end

6 And as they -- at the midterm level it tells

7 us whether or not theyre going to be remediated

8 in the course or move forward As they move

9 forward we get the curriculum more rigorous again

10 for them and the next course which is in line so

11 basically one on one and group learning is

12 efficient for them Theyre going to have to take

13 the same courses but if theyre testing at lower

14 levels thats where the individualized

15 instruction will help them

16 Did I answer it

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

18 respond to that

19 MR McDUFFIE Ms Bowen would like to

20 respond But I just want to make it also clear

21 that that -- what was just explained verbally is

22 not in the application

23 MS BOWEN The APEX curriculum is about a

24 curriculum for a set population of students as

25 well as the TABE Assessment they test and measure

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1 students basic skills The expectation under the

2 Common Core the FCAT 20 far exceeds that

3 curriculum And yes we have used it with some

4 of our most lowest performing students and Andrew

5 Jackson did make some gains but they still have

6 19 percent of their students are reading

7 proficiently

8 So my concern is with that curriculum I know

9 that there is something that you needed to have a

10 better indication that was going to provide the

11 teacher with a clear pathway of how to meet those

12 gaps By giving me an assessment thats only

13 measuring my minimum skills it does not

14 demonstrate the expectation of the Lexile level

15 thats required for a college entrance And on

16 Page 39 of his application it clearly states for

17 students who are interested in pre-med coursework

18 The expectation for reading cannot be

19 provided with the diagnosis information that you

20 get with a TABE Assessment or an APEX curriculum

21 Page 10 -- Im sorry I said Page 39 its stuck

22 in my head for some reason -- but on Page 10 it

23 talks about pre-med students and the other

24 innovative -- because thats what hes saying

25 its one of the innovative factors of this

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1 program

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you Are there other

3 questions from the Commission members

4 MS BRADLEY I have a question

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Verdya

6 MS BRADLEY My question is for the school

7 the applicant Is this a solely online program

8 DR MYERS No maam Its basically online

9 and direct instruction

10 MS BRADLEY Do you discuss direct

11 instruction in here

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY The reason that I ask that

14 question is the questions in the application asks

15 specifically for a description of the curriculum

16 a description of the reading program And in your

17 responses your responses pretty much tie back to

18 the APEX curriculum so it appears that it is

19 solely reliant on And then all of the

20 documentation that you gave was from the APEX

21 program So I was just wondering is it just

22 solely online

23 DR MYERS The majority of it but theres a

24 piece where the direct instruction is in place

25 with the child because the children are culled

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1 out for the particular course learning for the

2 subject area that theyre doing The regular

3 curriculum comes in -- the APEX Lexile learning

4 comes in Everything is designed where its

5 implemented on the laptop for the child If the

6 child needs direct instruction the child is

7 culled out into an environment where he or she

8 receives the one-on-one instruction

9 MS BRADLEY Did you discuss that in here

10 DR MYERS Im pretty sure I did

11 MS ALEXANDER What page are you looking at

12 for these

13 MS BRADLEY Well it kind of goes back and

14 forth It starts on Page 16 where it starts

15 talking about the educational program and then it

16 gives me probably about 20 30 pages on APEX and

17 then it goes into the reading curriculum But Im

18 not seeing anywhere where theres any supplement

19 to that

20 Because even the question on Page 16 was

21 Describe the proposed reading or educational

22 program it sort of goes through elements of the

23 APEX program Then on Page 68 it says Describe

24 the reading curriculum

25 DR MYERS Yes maam If you look at

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1 the -shy

2 MS HITCHCOCK Stand up please

3 DR MYERS Im sorry

4 CHAIRMAN CHU If you could come to the mic

5 that would be very helpful because our court

6 reporter is trying to get it all down

7 DR MYERS Im sorry The bullet there

8 says Direct instruction individual and small

9 group instruction led by highly-qualified

10 teachers

11 MS ESPOSITO Say the page

12 MS BRADLEY Thats on Page 16 But its

13 just part of the -- its sort of an isolated

14 bullet but it doesnt explain it any further than

15 that You know it doesnt tell me that there is

16 going to be a pull-out portion

17 DR MYERS Right But as I stated I just

18 put a little piece in there because thats just a

19 little piece of the curriculum and thats why I

20 just mentioned a little piece of it there The

21 majority of it is an online based curriculum

22 MS HODGENS I have a question for the

23 school

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

25 MS HODGENS I am confused on the targeted

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1 population Im trying to get it on the motion

2 sheet so Im going to go to targeted population

3 first And I am a little confused on it because I

4 can read what you say on Page 12 And on Page 12

5 you talk about being open to all students and

6 then you talk about low-performing students and

7 then you go back to all students

8 And then when I go to Page 41 the curriculum

9 design you talk about students needing credit

10 recovery And then I continue on and I see AP

11 courses honor courses And again I dont want

12 to allude that I dont believe that kids can do

13 those courses but I want to understand what

14 population youre really looking at

15 DR MYERS Were looking at all students

16 within that demographic And within the

17 demographics it is a lower level You have lower

18 level one level two basically they are coming

19 from the downtown sector area within that 5-mile

20 radius area of the downtown

21 So when I say all students because a

22 charter school cannot deny a student from applying

23 or coming in all students are accepted if they

24 can meet transportation needs to come to school

25 So as I expressed to you thats what

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1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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37

1 learning activities The chairs in the classroom

2 are set up and a table where one to one and one to

3 one where the child can model the other child and

4 move forward

5 The APEX curriculum which is used in Duval

6 County Public Schools they just finished using

7 the APEX curriculum in one of their failing

8 schools which moved -- increased the grade two

9 grades -- I think one or two grades at Andrew

10 Jackson High School They have the APEX They

11 have several schools in Duval County thats using

12 the APEX curriculum So its a Florida curriculum

13 that is being used

14 As they expressed the application -- when I

15 looked at the application since I was using the

16 APEX curriculum I said okay why not modify this

17 and put it back into context where its being

18 used So what were doing is we just wrote the

19 application in regards to what they wanted They

20 wanted APEX We put the APEX in there Its a

21 proven fact that its successful in their public

22 schools

23 MS ALEXANDER Can you answer her questions

24 I think which is how you are going to move the low

25 learners up to eventually taking the AP test

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1 DR MYERS Right Im sorry I know I only

2 have a few more minutes or a few seconds But

3 eventually as they progress in each area in math

4 science social studies then we test again So

5 we test at the beginning test at the end

6 And as they -- at the midterm level it tells

7 us whether or not theyre going to be remediated

8 in the course or move forward As they move

9 forward we get the curriculum more rigorous again

10 for them and the next course which is in line so

11 basically one on one and group learning is

12 efficient for them Theyre going to have to take

13 the same courses but if theyre testing at lower

14 levels thats where the individualized

15 instruction will help them

16 Did I answer it

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

18 respond to that

19 MR McDUFFIE Ms Bowen would like to

20 respond But I just want to make it also clear

21 that that -- what was just explained verbally is

22 not in the application

23 MS BOWEN The APEX curriculum is about a

24 curriculum for a set population of students as

25 well as the TABE Assessment they test and measure

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1 students basic skills The expectation under the

2 Common Core the FCAT 20 far exceeds that

3 curriculum And yes we have used it with some

4 of our most lowest performing students and Andrew

5 Jackson did make some gains but they still have

6 19 percent of their students are reading

7 proficiently

8 So my concern is with that curriculum I know

9 that there is something that you needed to have a

10 better indication that was going to provide the

11 teacher with a clear pathway of how to meet those

12 gaps By giving me an assessment thats only

13 measuring my minimum skills it does not

14 demonstrate the expectation of the Lexile level

15 thats required for a college entrance And on

16 Page 39 of his application it clearly states for

17 students who are interested in pre-med coursework

18 The expectation for reading cannot be

19 provided with the diagnosis information that you

20 get with a TABE Assessment or an APEX curriculum

21 Page 10 -- Im sorry I said Page 39 its stuck

22 in my head for some reason -- but on Page 10 it

23 talks about pre-med students and the other

24 innovative -- because thats what hes saying

25 its one of the innovative factors of this

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1 program

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you Are there other

3 questions from the Commission members

4 MS BRADLEY I have a question

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Verdya

6 MS BRADLEY My question is for the school

7 the applicant Is this a solely online program

8 DR MYERS No maam Its basically online

9 and direct instruction

10 MS BRADLEY Do you discuss direct

11 instruction in here

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY The reason that I ask that

14 question is the questions in the application asks

15 specifically for a description of the curriculum

16 a description of the reading program And in your

17 responses your responses pretty much tie back to

18 the APEX curriculum so it appears that it is

19 solely reliant on And then all of the

20 documentation that you gave was from the APEX

21 program So I was just wondering is it just

22 solely online

23 DR MYERS The majority of it but theres a

24 piece where the direct instruction is in place

25 with the child because the children are culled

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1 out for the particular course learning for the

2 subject area that theyre doing The regular

3 curriculum comes in -- the APEX Lexile learning

4 comes in Everything is designed where its

5 implemented on the laptop for the child If the

6 child needs direct instruction the child is

7 culled out into an environment where he or she

8 receives the one-on-one instruction

9 MS BRADLEY Did you discuss that in here

10 DR MYERS Im pretty sure I did

11 MS ALEXANDER What page are you looking at

12 for these

13 MS BRADLEY Well it kind of goes back and

14 forth It starts on Page 16 where it starts

15 talking about the educational program and then it

16 gives me probably about 20 30 pages on APEX and

17 then it goes into the reading curriculum But Im

18 not seeing anywhere where theres any supplement

19 to that

20 Because even the question on Page 16 was

21 Describe the proposed reading or educational

22 program it sort of goes through elements of the

23 APEX program Then on Page 68 it says Describe

24 the reading curriculum

25 DR MYERS Yes maam If you look at

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1 the -shy

2 MS HITCHCOCK Stand up please

3 DR MYERS Im sorry

4 CHAIRMAN CHU If you could come to the mic

5 that would be very helpful because our court

6 reporter is trying to get it all down

7 DR MYERS Im sorry The bullet there

8 says Direct instruction individual and small

9 group instruction led by highly-qualified

10 teachers

11 MS ESPOSITO Say the page

12 MS BRADLEY Thats on Page 16 But its

13 just part of the -- its sort of an isolated

14 bullet but it doesnt explain it any further than

15 that You know it doesnt tell me that there is

16 going to be a pull-out portion

17 DR MYERS Right But as I stated I just

18 put a little piece in there because thats just a

19 little piece of the curriculum and thats why I

20 just mentioned a little piece of it there The

21 majority of it is an online based curriculum

22 MS HODGENS I have a question for the

23 school

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

25 MS HODGENS I am confused on the targeted

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1 population Im trying to get it on the motion

2 sheet so Im going to go to targeted population

3 first And I am a little confused on it because I

4 can read what you say on Page 12 And on Page 12

5 you talk about being open to all students and

6 then you talk about low-performing students and

7 then you go back to all students

8 And then when I go to Page 41 the curriculum

9 design you talk about students needing credit

10 recovery And then I continue on and I see AP

11 courses honor courses And again I dont want

12 to allude that I dont believe that kids can do

13 those courses but I want to understand what

14 population youre really looking at

15 DR MYERS Were looking at all students

16 within that demographic And within the

17 demographics it is a lower level You have lower

18 level one level two basically they are coming

19 from the downtown sector area within that 5-mile

20 radius area of the downtown

21 So when I say all students because a

22 charter school cannot deny a student from applying

23 or coming in all students are accepted if they

24 can meet transportation needs to come to school

25 So as I expressed to you thats what

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1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

Page 38: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

38

1 DR MYERS Right Im sorry I know I only

2 have a few more minutes or a few seconds But

3 eventually as they progress in each area in math

4 science social studies then we test again So

5 we test at the beginning test at the end

6 And as they -- at the midterm level it tells

7 us whether or not theyre going to be remediated

8 in the course or move forward As they move

9 forward we get the curriculum more rigorous again

10 for them and the next course which is in line so

11 basically one on one and group learning is

12 efficient for them Theyre going to have to take

13 the same courses but if theyre testing at lower

14 levels thats where the individualized

15 instruction will help them

16 Did I answer it

17 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

18 respond to that

19 MR McDUFFIE Ms Bowen would like to

20 respond But I just want to make it also clear

21 that that -- what was just explained verbally is

22 not in the application

23 MS BOWEN The APEX curriculum is about a

24 curriculum for a set population of students as

25 well as the TABE Assessment they test and measure

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1 students basic skills The expectation under the

2 Common Core the FCAT 20 far exceeds that

3 curriculum And yes we have used it with some

4 of our most lowest performing students and Andrew

5 Jackson did make some gains but they still have

6 19 percent of their students are reading

7 proficiently

8 So my concern is with that curriculum I know

9 that there is something that you needed to have a

10 better indication that was going to provide the

11 teacher with a clear pathway of how to meet those

12 gaps By giving me an assessment thats only

13 measuring my minimum skills it does not

14 demonstrate the expectation of the Lexile level

15 thats required for a college entrance And on

16 Page 39 of his application it clearly states for

17 students who are interested in pre-med coursework

18 The expectation for reading cannot be

19 provided with the diagnosis information that you

20 get with a TABE Assessment or an APEX curriculum

21 Page 10 -- Im sorry I said Page 39 its stuck

22 in my head for some reason -- but on Page 10 it

23 talks about pre-med students and the other

24 innovative -- because thats what hes saying

25 its one of the innovative factors of this

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1 program

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you Are there other

3 questions from the Commission members

4 MS BRADLEY I have a question

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Verdya

6 MS BRADLEY My question is for the school

7 the applicant Is this a solely online program

8 DR MYERS No maam Its basically online

9 and direct instruction

10 MS BRADLEY Do you discuss direct

11 instruction in here

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY The reason that I ask that

14 question is the questions in the application asks

15 specifically for a description of the curriculum

16 a description of the reading program And in your

17 responses your responses pretty much tie back to

18 the APEX curriculum so it appears that it is

19 solely reliant on And then all of the

20 documentation that you gave was from the APEX

21 program So I was just wondering is it just

22 solely online

23 DR MYERS The majority of it but theres a

24 piece where the direct instruction is in place

25 with the child because the children are culled

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1 out for the particular course learning for the

2 subject area that theyre doing The regular

3 curriculum comes in -- the APEX Lexile learning

4 comes in Everything is designed where its

5 implemented on the laptop for the child If the

6 child needs direct instruction the child is

7 culled out into an environment where he or she

8 receives the one-on-one instruction

9 MS BRADLEY Did you discuss that in here

10 DR MYERS Im pretty sure I did

11 MS ALEXANDER What page are you looking at

12 for these

13 MS BRADLEY Well it kind of goes back and

14 forth It starts on Page 16 where it starts

15 talking about the educational program and then it

16 gives me probably about 20 30 pages on APEX and

17 then it goes into the reading curriculum But Im

18 not seeing anywhere where theres any supplement

19 to that

20 Because even the question on Page 16 was

21 Describe the proposed reading or educational

22 program it sort of goes through elements of the

23 APEX program Then on Page 68 it says Describe

24 the reading curriculum

25 DR MYERS Yes maam If you look at

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1 the -shy

2 MS HITCHCOCK Stand up please

3 DR MYERS Im sorry

4 CHAIRMAN CHU If you could come to the mic

5 that would be very helpful because our court

6 reporter is trying to get it all down

7 DR MYERS Im sorry The bullet there

8 says Direct instruction individual and small

9 group instruction led by highly-qualified

10 teachers

11 MS ESPOSITO Say the page

12 MS BRADLEY Thats on Page 16 But its

13 just part of the -- its sort of an isolated

14 bullet but it doesnt explain it any further than

15 that You know it doesnt tell me that there is

16 going to be a pull-out portion

17 DR MYERS Right But as I stated I just

18 put a little piece in there because thats just a

19 little piece of the curriculum and thats why I

20 just mentioned a little piece of it there The

21 majority of it is an online based curriculum

22 MS HODGENS I have a question for the

23 school

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

25 MS HODGENS I am confused on the targeted

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1 population Im trying to get it on the motion

2 sheet so Im going to go to targeted population

3 first And I am a little confused on it because I

4 can read what you say on Page 12 And on Page 12

5 you talk about being open to all students and

6 then you talk about low-performing students and

7 then you go back to all students

8 And then when I go to Page 41 the curriculum

9 design you talk about students needing credit

10 recovery And then I continue on and I see AP

11 courses honor courses And again I dont want

12 to allude that I dont believe that kids can do

13 those courses but I want to understand what

14 population youre really looking at

15 DR MYERS Were looking at all students

16 within that demographic And within the

17 demographics it is a lower level You have lower

18 level one level two basically they are coming

19 from the downtown sector area within that 5-mile

20 radius area of the downtown

21 So when I say all students because a

22 charter school cannot deny a student from applying

23 or coming in all students are accepted if they

24 can meet transportation needs to come to school

25 So as I expressed to you thats what

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1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

Page 39: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

39

1 students basic skills The expectation under the

2 Common Core the FCAT 20 far exceeds that

3 curriculum And yes we have used it with some

4 of our most lowest performing students and Andrew

5 Jackson did make some gains but they still have

6 19 percent of their students are reading

7 proficiently

8 So my concern is with that curriculum I know

9 that there is something that you needed to have a

10 better indication that was going to provide the

11 teacher with a clear pathway of how to meet those

12 gaps By giving me an assessment thats only

13 measuring my minimum skills it does not

14 demonstrate the expectation of the Lexile level

15 thats required for a college entrance And on

16 Page 39 of his application it clearly states for

17 students who are interested in pre-med coursework

18 The expectation for reading cannot be

19 provided with the diagnosis information that you

20 get with a TABE Assessment or an APEX curriculum

21 Page 10 -- Im sorry I said Page 39 its stuck

22 in my head for some reason -- but on Page 10 it

23 talks about pre-med students and the other

24 innovative -- because thats what hes saying

25 its one of the innovative factors of this

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1 program

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you Are there other

3 questions from the Commission members

4 MS BRADLEY I have a question

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Verdya

6 MS BRADLEY My question is for the school

7 the applicant Is this a solely online program

8 DR MYERS No maam Its basically online

9 and direct instruction

10 MS BRADLEY Do you discuss direct

11 instruction in here

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY The reason that I ask that

14 question is the questions in the application asks

15 specifically for a description of the curriculum

16 a description of the reading program And in your

17 responses your responses pretty much tie back to

18 the APEX curriculum so it appears that it is

19 solely reliant on And then all of the

20 documentation that you gave was from the APEX

21 program So I was just wondering is it just

22 solely online

23 DR MYERS The majority of it but theres a

24 piece where the direct instruction is in place

25 with the child because the children are culled

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1 out for the particular course learning for the

2 subject area that theyre doing The regular

3 curriculum comes in -- the APEX Lexile learning

4 comes in Everything is designed where its

5 implemented on the laptop for the child If the

6 child needs direct instruction the child is

7 culled out into an environment where he or she

8 receives the one-on-one instruction

9 MS BRADLEY Did you discuss that in here

10 DR MYERS Im pretty sure I did

11 MS ALEXANDER What page are you looking at

12 for these

13 MS BRADLEY Well it kind of goes back and

14 forth It starts on Page 16 where it starts

15 talking about the educational program and then it

16 gives me probably about 20 30 pages on APEX and

17 then it goes into the reading curriculum But Im

18 not seeing anywhere where theres any supplement

19 to that

20 Because even the question on Page 16 was

21 Describe the proposed reading or educational

22 program it sort of goes through elements of the

23 APEX program Then on Page 68 it says Describe

24 the reading curriculum

25 DR MYERS Yes maam If you look at

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1 the -shy

2 MS HITCHCOCK Stand up please

3 DR MYERS Im sorry

4 CHAIRMAN CHU If you could come to the mic

5 that would be very helpful because our court

6 reporter is trying to get it all down

7 DR MYERS Im sorry The bullet there

8 says Direct instruction individual and small

9 group instruction led by highly-qualified

10 teachers

11 MS ESPOSITO Say the page

12 MS BRADLEY Thats on Page 16 But its

13 just part of the -- its sort of an isolated

14 bullet but it doesnt explain it any further than

15 that You know it doesnt tell me that there is

16 going to be a pull-out portion

17 DR MYERS Right But as I stated I just

18 put a little piece in there because thats just a

19 little piece of the curriculum and thats why I

20 just mentioned a little piece of it there The

21 majority of it is an online based curriculum

22 MS HODGENS I have a question for the

23 school

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

25 MS HODGENS I am confused on the targeted

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1 population Im trying to get it on the motion

2 sheet so Im going to go to targeted population

3 first And I am a little confused on it because I

4 can read what you say on Page 12 And on Page 12

5 you talk about being open to all students and

6 then you talk about low-performing students and

7 then you go back to all students

8 And then when I go to Page 41 the curriculum

9 design you talk about students needing credit

10 recovery And then I continue on and I see AP

11 courses honor courses And again I dont want

12 to allude that I dont believe that kids can do

13 those courses but I want to understand what

14 population youre really looking at

15 DR MYERS Were looking at all students

16 within that demographic And within the

17 demographics it is a lower level You have lower

18 level one level two basically they are coming

19 from the downtown sector area within that 5-mile

20 radius area of the downtown

21 So when I say all students because a

22 charter school cannot deny a student from applying

23 or coming in all students are accepted if they

24 can meet transportation needs to come to school

25 So as I expressed to you thats what

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1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

Page 40: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

40

1 program

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you Are there other

3 questions from the Commission members

4 MS BRADLEY I have a question

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Verdya

6 MS BRADLEY My question is for the school

7 the applicant Is this a solely online program

8 DR MYERS No maam Its basically online

9 and direct instruction

10 MS BRADLEY Do you discuss direct

11 instruction in here

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY The reason that I ask that

14 question is the questions in the application asks

15 specifically for a description of the curriculum

16 a description of the reading program And in your

17 responses your responses pretty much tie back to

18 the APEX curriculum so it appears that it is

19 solely reliant on And then all of the

20 documentation that you gave was from the APEX

21 program So I was just wondering is it just

22 solely online

23 DR MYERS The majority of it but theres a

24 piece where the direct instruction is in place

25 with the child because the children are culled

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1 out for the particular course learning for the

2 subject area that theyre doing The regular

3 curriculum comes in -- the APEX Lexile learning

4 comes in Everything is designed where its

5 implemented on the laptop for the child If the

6 child needs direct instruction the child is

7 culled out into an environment where he or she

8 receives the one-on-one instruction

9 MS BRADLEY Did you discuss that in here

10 DR MYERS Im pretty sure I did

11 MS ALEXANDER What page are you looking at

12 for these

13 MS BRADLEY Well it kind of goes back and

14 forth It starts on Page 16 where it starts

15 talking about the educational program and then it

16 gives me probably about 20 30 pages on APEX and

17 then it goes into the reading curriculum But Im

18 not seeing anywhere where theres any supplement

19 to that

20 Because even the question on Page 16 was

21 Describe the proposed reading or educational

22 program it sort of goes through elements of the

23 APEX program Then on Page 68 it says Describe

24 the reading curriculum

25 DR MYERS Yes maam If you look at

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1 the -shy

2 MS HITCHCOCK Stand up please

3 DR MYERS Im sorry

4 CHAIRMAN CHU If you could come to the mic

5 that would be very helpful because our court

6 reporter is trying to get it all down

7 DR MYERS Im sorry The bullet there

8 says Direct instruction individual and small

9 group instruction led by highly-qualified

10 teachers

11 MS ESPOSITO Say the page

12 MS BRADLEY Thats on Page 16 But its

13 just part of the -- its sort of an isolated

14 bullet but it doesnt explain it any further than

15 that You know it doesnt tell me that there is

16 going to be a pull-out portion

17 DR MYERS Right But as I stated I just

18 put a little piece in there because thats just a

19 little piece of the curriculum and thats why I

20 just mentioned a little piece of it there The

21 majority of it is an online based curriculum

22 MS HODGENS I have a question for the

23 school

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

25 MS HODGENS I am confused on the targeted

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1 population Im trying to get it on the motion

2 sheet so Im going to go to targeted population

3 first And I am a little confused on it because I

4 can read what you say on Page 12 And on Page 12

5 you talk about being open to all students and

6 then you talk about low-performing students and

7 then you go back to all students

8 And then when I go to Page 41 the curriculum

9 design you talk about students needing credit

10 recovery And then I continue on and I see AP

11 courses honor courses And again I dont want

12 to allude that I dont believe that kids can do

13 those courses but I want to understand what

14 population youre really looking at

15 DR MYERS Were looking at all students

16 within that demographic And within the

17 demographics it is a lower level You have lower

18 level one level two basically they are coming

19 from the downtown sector area within that 5-mile

20 radius area of the downtown

21 So when I say all students because a

22 charter school cannot deny a student from applying

23 or coming in all students are accepted if they

24 can meet transportation needs to come to school

25 So as I expressed to you thats what

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1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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41

1 out for the particular course learning for the

2 subject area that theyre doing The regular

3 curriculum comes in -- the APEX Lexile learning

4 comes in Everything is designed where its

5 implemented on the laptop for the child If the

6 child needs direct instruction the child is

7 culled out into an environment where he or she

8 receives the one-on-one instruction

9 MS BRADLEY Did you discuss that in here

10 DR MYERS Im pretty sure I did

11 MS ALEXANDER What page are you looking at

12 for these

13 MS BRADLEY Well it kind of goes back and

14 forth It starts on Page 16 where it starts

15 talking about the educational program and then it

16 gives me probably about 20 30 pages on APEX and

17 then it goes into the reading curriculum But Im

18 not seeing anywhere where theres any supplement

19 to that

20 Because even the question on Page 16 was

21 Describe the proposed reading or educational

22 program it sort of goes through elements of the

23 APEX program Then on Page 68 it says Describe

24 the reading curriculum

25 DR MYERS Yes maam If you look at

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1 the -shy

2 MS HITCHCOCK Stand up please

3 DR MYERS Im sorry

4 CHAIRMAN CHU If you could come to the mic

5 that would be very helpful because our court

6 reporter is trying to get it all down

7 DR MYERS Im sorry The bullet there

8 says Direct instruction individual and small

9 group instruction led by highly-qualified

10 teachers

11 MS ESPOSITO Say the page

12 MS BRADLEY Thats on Page 16 But its

13 just part of the -- its sort of an isolated

14 bullet but it doesnt explain it any further than

15 that You know it doesnt tell me that there is

16 going to be a pull-out portion

17 DR MYERS Right But as I stated I just

18 put a little piece in there because thats just a

19 little piece of the curriculum and thats why I

20 just mentioned a little piece of it there The

21 majority of it is an online based curriculum

22 MS HODGENS I have a question for the

23 school

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

25 MS HODGENS I am confused on the targeted

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1 population Im trying to get it on the motion

2 sheet so Im going to go to targeted population

3 first And I am a little confused on it because I

4 can read what you say on Page 12 And on Page 12

5 you talk about being open to all students and

6 then you talk about low-performing students and

7 then you go back to all students

8 And then when I go to Page 41 the curriculum

9 design you talk about students needing credit

10 recovery And then I continue on and I see AP

11 courses honor courses And again I dont want

12 to allude that I dont believe that kids can do

13 those courses but I want to understand what

14 population youre really looking at

15 DR MYERS Were looking at all students

16 within that demographic And within the

17 demographics it is a lower level You have lower

18 level one level two basically they are coming

19 from the downtown sector area within that 5-mile

20 radius area of the downtown

21 So when I say all students because a

22 charter school cannot deny a student from applying

23 or coming in all students are accepted if they

24 can meet transportation needs to come to school

25 So as I expressed to you thats what

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1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

Page 42: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

42

1 the -shy

2 MS HITCHCOCK Stand up please

3 DR MYERS Im sorry

4 CHAIRMAN CHU If you could come to the mic

5 that would be very helpful because our court

6 reporter is trying to get it all down

7 DR MYERS Im sorry The bullet there

8 says Direct instruction individual and small

9 group instruction led by highly-qualified

10 teachers

11 MS ESPOSITO Say the page

12 MS BRADLEY Thats on Page 16 But its

13 just part of the -- its sort of an isolated

14 bullet but it doesnt explain it any further than

15 that You know it doesnt tell me that there is

16 going to be a pull-out portion

17 DR MYERS Right But as I stated I just

18 put a little piece in there because thats just a

19 little piece of the curriculum and thats why I

20 just mentioned a little piece of it there The

21 majority of it is an online based curriculum

22 MS HODGENS I have a question for the

23 school

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

25 MS HODGENS I am confused on the targeted

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1 population Im trying to get it on the motion

2 sheet so Im going to go to targeted population

3 first And I am a little confused on it because I

4 can read what you say on Page 12 And on Page 12

5 you talk about being open to all students and

6 then you talk about low-performing students and

7 then you go back to all students

8 And then when I go to Page 41 the curriculum

9 design you talk about students needing credit

10 recovery And then I continue on and I see AP

11 courses honor courses And again I dont want

12 to allude that I dont believe that kids can do

13 those courses but I want to understand what

14 population youre really looking at

15 DR MYERS Were looking at all students

16 within that demographic And within the

17 demographics it is a lower level You have lower

18 level one level two basically they are coming

19 from the downtown sector area within that 5-mile

20 radius area of the downtown

21 So when I say all students because a

22 charter school cannot deny a student from applying

23 or coming in all students are accepted if they

24 can meet transportation needs to come to school

25 So as I expressed to you thats what

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1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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43

1 population Im trying to get it on the motion

2 sheet so Im going to go to targeted population

3 first And I am a little confused on it because I

4 can read what you say on Page 12 And on Page 12

5 you talk about being open to all students and

6 then you talk about low-performing students and

7 then you go back to all students

8 And then when I go to Page 41 the curriculum

9 design you talk about students needing credit

10 recovery And then I continue on and I see AP

11 courses honor courses And again I dont want

12 to allude that I dont believe that kids can do

13 those courses but I want to understand what

14 population youre really looking at

15 DR MYERS Were looking at all students

16 within that demographic And within the

17 demographics it is a lower level You have lower

18 level one level two basically they are coming

19 from the downtown sector area within that 5-mile

20 radius area of the downtown

21 So when I say all students because a

22 charter school cannot deny a student from applying

23 or coming in all students are accepted if they

24 can meet transportation needs to come to school

25 So as I expressed to you thats what

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1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

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21

22

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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44

1 were -- in that demographic area it is level

2 ones and level twos were dealing with because

3 were surrounded by three failing schools So in

4 those three failing schools thats what you have

5 the population in there one accelerated to a

6 grade level above but in the past several years

7 there have been three failing schools

8 MS HODGENS And youre currently teaching

9 students in the same area

10 DR MYERS Yes maam Im in the same area

11 Im right around the corner from the actual

12 school two blocks away from the school right now

13 So were getting those same demographics right

14 now and it is you know progressing

15 MS HODGENS So I would suggest that you be

16 more specific because you kind of know what

17 population youre going to serve because youre

18 serving them now So I would say what would help

19 in the application for the district is to be more

20 specific in actually who you know youre going to

21 serve instead of being -- and I know youre saying

22 all students are allowed to come But reality

23 says when you put a school in a certain area if

24 youre targeting a certain population you would

25 specifically speak to that population

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1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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Page 45: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

45

1 DR MYERS Well when the application was

2 written the school wasnt open at that time

3 because it was written in May June so we had not

4 started the actual school The school didnt open

5 until August the 1st

6 MS HODGENS Okay

7 DR MYERS So we did not start the actual

8 school So I had to look at the mail-outs which

9 5000 mail-outs went out to students throughout

10 the greater Jacksonville area We received 2300

11 responses from individuals that wanted to attend

12 the school and was interested once the school

13 obtained charter So that was already done

14 We looked at a demographics of the area but

15 we did not really target we just said all

16 students and we then looked at opening up the

17 school with kids within the area which was

18 identified to the Board Ms Biehler at that time

19 MS HODGENS Okay

20 MS BRADLEY Can I just add to that Jenna

21 MS HODGENS Yes

22 MS BRADLEY Because I think the difficulty

23 in not being specific is that when you look at the

24 fact your reliance on APEX as your sole provider

25 of the curriculum is wondering whether theres a

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1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

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46

1 watch between APEX and all learners So this

2 application doesnt quite substantiate that in

3 terms of the educational program design

4 DR MYERS Well APEX is for all learners -shy

5 MS BRADLEY And I understand that

6 DR MYERS -- lower level and higher level

7 because its a curriculum -- it suffices both

8 learners moderate level ones level twos level

9 threes and advanced learners so it does match

10 those individual needs from each child

11 And as I stated and they stated to you one

12 of their failing schools was using the APEX

13 curriculum and succeeded with it so more than one

14 school so it does match Its just not for one

15 group You can branch courses all from it

16 MS HODGENS But what I understood to be

17 said was that they used it with low level

18 learners

19 DR MYERS No

20 MS HODGENS Level one and level two as

21 youve stated

22 DR MYERS Right But they have higher

23 learners too at those schools Its not all lower

24 level They have level threes fours and fives at

25 their schools and they progress from it they

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1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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47

1 pass the FCAT so its just -- the school is not

2 just based on level ones and level twos no no

3 school is based on that

4 They might have a high population They

5 might have 20 percent 30 percent But those

6 schools there -- I taught at those schools

7 several of those schools so I knew the kids that

8 we were getting I was a principal at one of

9 those schools assistant principal vice

10 principal so I know the area that were getting

11 in that area there

12 MS HODGENS Okay Now let me go to my

13 next question Im going down to the ESE bullet

14 that says Exceptional student education Its

15 on Page 78 It says Please indicate the level

16 of the services the school will provide to

17 students with disabilities by selecting from the

18 list below And I see the three bullet points

19 but I dont see one selected nor do I see any

20 type of information regarding what level youll

21 serve and how youll serve them

22 DR MYERS Well as we know that the

23 trainables tends to -- Duval County tends to pull

24 away from the trainables in regular high school

25 Theyre directed to a regular school of learning

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1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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Page 48: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

48

1 with their disabilities But were looking at the

2 VE EH and those type of students there So when

3 I stated those if I didnt go in clear with the

4 disability of the trainable potty trained so

5 forth no

6 MS HODGENS Look at letter A and look at

7 the question

8 DR MYERS Please indicate the level of

9 service the school will provide disability by

10 selecting from the list below This school will

11 serve students with disabilities whose needs can

12 be met in a regular classroom environment

13 MS HODGENS Thats the bullet Theres

14 three bullets there and each of those bullets are

15 part of the application the model application

16 DR MYERS Right The school will serve

17 students with disabilities whose needs can be met

18 in a regular class resource with combination

19 between 40 to 80 percentile

20 MS BRADLEY You have to choose one

21 MS HODGENS You need to choose one of those

22 three models or tell us how you were going to go

23 implement that model And I think that -- this is

24 a choice A is a choice youre picking which

25 model youre going to do 80 percent or more in

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1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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49

1 the regular class 40 to 80 percent in the regular

2 class

3 DR MYERS Can I say something on this

4 MS HODGENS Yes

5 DR MYERS When the application was

6 originally turned in okay it was two

7 applications First I met with the application of

8 the charter school office okay One of the

9 individuals here Ms Henry can verify that She

10 came in late during the year I turned in a disk

11 They told me at that time that I didnt have to

12 turn in the disk okay I turned in the disk

13 I called them they said no Dr Myers the

14 only thing you need to do is turn in a disk to us

15 I said are you sure I dont need the ten copies

16 of the ten books They said no I did not which

17 was one of their individuals that left and went to

18 another district or moved out of town

19 At that time when she got back she emailed

20 me and called me and said no I need the books

21 I at that time had to revamp the entire disk

22 They misplaced my disk They didnt know where

23 the disk was I had to revise the entire disk

24 because they were missing some of the questions

25 off the disk

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1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

Page 50: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

50

1 One of their individuals signed a copy I

2 think there was two copies that was signed

3 Ms Henry and I met with them in August after they

4 called me to deny the application Ms Henry and

5 I was looking for the disk They didnt know

6 where the disk was

7 It was two disks that was served to them one

8 prior on July 26th and the other one was August

9 the 1st I was the first one to turn in my disk

10 So I had to go back and revamp the entire disk

11 because I got the wrong information from the

12 district from their liaison person who the

13 position Ms Henry took

14 MS HODGENS Dr Myers can I stop you for

15 one second

16 DR MYERS Yes maam

17 MS HODGENS And I dont mean to be

18 disrespectful so please understand but I just

19 wanted you to answer that one question

20 DR MYERS Yes maam

21 MS HODGENS It looks like there were

22 sections missing but they didnt include this

23 section so Im not asking you about the ones that

24 were missing that you later resubmitted I was

25 just asking specifically about ESE since its in

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1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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51

1 this issue

2 And clearly letter it was not answered

3 letter A was not answered So I was just trying

4 to get -- to understand did you not answer it

5 because you -shy

6 DR MYERS Yes I did answer it No I

7 answered it and thats in the disk that they

8 misplaced See this was part of the first books

9 that they had They had a second portion of it

10 MS HODGENS Okay Let me stop you there

11 and let me ask the district

12 DR MYERS Yes maam

13 MS HODGENS Can someone from the district

14 just tell me was there a section -- is there a

15 section that Im missing in my appeal today

16 MS BOWEN No maam

17 MS HENRY-SMITH Good afternoon My name is

18 Anita Henry-Smith and I am one of the new charter

19 coordinators for Duval County That section was

20 not a section that was missed Dr Myers did

21 provide us copies of the application in the binder

22 form So even if he is speaking of a disk it

23 would have been in the application if it was

24 submitted But that was not one of the parts that

25 he had to resubmit

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1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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52

1 MS HODGENS Okay Thank you Im done

2 with my questions

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions for the

4 district

5 (No response)

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

7 like to make a motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill make a motion

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Jenna

10 MS HODGENS I move the Commission find that

11 the School Board did have competent substantial

12 evidence to support its denial of the application

13 based on the applicants failure to meet the

14 requirements of the educational plan and above

15 identified sections of the Florida Statutes

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

17 MS ESPOSITO I second

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

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53

1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU That motion carries Would

7 someone like to make the second motion

8 MS HODGENS Ill do it

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

10 MS HODGENS I move that the applicants

11 failure to comply with the educational plan and

12 above identified sections of the Florida Statute

13 was statutory good cause for denial

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Second

15 MS ESPOSITO Second

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

17 MS HITCHCOCK I didnt hear who was second

18 MS ESPOSITO Me

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

24 MS BRADLEY Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

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1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

Page 54: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

54

1 MS BRUBAKER Yes

2 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

3 MR GARCIA Yes

4 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

5 MR MORENO Yes

6 CHAIRMAN CHU All right That motion

7 carries which now takes us to Issue No 2

8 whether the applicant failed to comply with the

9 organizational plan regarding governance and

10 management

11 Again the same protocol Ill give the

12 school a couple of minutes to speak specifically

13 towards the organizational plan then well give

14 the district the same amount of time

15 MS ALEXANDER Thank you With respect to

16 governance the first issue raised by the School

17 Board is that we appeared to be a private school

18 and thats actually not correct As weve

19 described a private charter school the private

20 model was implemented just in the interim until

21 the charter status could be resolved

22 Another contention that was made by the

23 School Board was that the organizational chart

24 submitted by the charter school failed to

25 adequately describe the reporting structure of the

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1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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55

1 Governance Board

2 There wasnt in fact a detailed description

3 provided but there was in fact a clear chart

4 showing who the principal and executive officers

5 were going to be and who they were going to report

6 to with respect to the Board And in fact I

7 think also the case law is very clear that even

8 though a detailed description was not provided

9 that a chart would have sufficed under the

10 statutory standard

11 The School Board also took issue with the

12 substance of our Articles of Incorporation I

13 dont really think that that was their place in

14 the sense that thats not part of the statutory

15 standard And in fact if they had issues with

16 the Articles of Incorporation that could

17 certainly have been addressed at the charter

18 negotiation standard

19 And in fact we provided -- in addition to

20 the governance chart we also provided resumes of

21 all of the appropriate Board members And we

22 think that given all of that we more than met the

23 standard under the law

24 So if you want me to go on and talk about the

25 next one or do you want to just break those up

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1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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Page 56: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

56

1 because we had governance and -shy

2 CHAIRMAN CHU You got your two minutes so

3 if you want to hit it hit it now

4 MS ALEXANDER Okay With respect to the

5 management we think it was pretty clear in the

6 application that there was a detailed and thorough

7 explanation of the duties of the principal and the

8 assistant principal thats on Page 87

9 The application also says that the principal

10 is accountable for the operational outcomes of the

11 school as well as for ensuring that the school is

12 meeting the stated goals and objectives It also

13 says that all day-to-day operations of the school

14 will be made by the principal

15 They also say in their denial that the

16 application failed to provide the criteria used in

17 selecting the school leader We believe that

18 thats refuted by the fact that the application

19 references what the process was to select the

20 school leader thats a decision by the Board of

21 Directors

22 And with respect to the staffing plan we

23 assert that for each year that there was an

24 appropriate staffing plan put in place in the

25 application and that we more than met that

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1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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Page 57: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

57

1 standard And I dont have anymore time so Im

2 going to answer any questions as they come up

3 Thanks

4 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

5 District

6 MR McDUFFIE I think our appeal kind of

7 speaks for itself with respect to the management

8 and the various issues under there I want to

9 really just harp on -- we keep dancing around this

10 issue of the current status of the applicant

11 The application was made in the name Stephen

12 Biko Private Charter High School Inc Not only

13 has the applicant admitted today that they are a

14 private school they also admitted during a Board

15 meeting that they are operating as a private

16 school

17 Florida Statute 100233(3)(b) says A

18 private school parochial school or home education

19 program shall not be eligible for charter school

20 status No matter if theyre going to change

21 later we didnt mean to be a private school the

22 fact of the matter is they are a private school

23 applying to be a charter school

24 I have nothing further

25 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

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1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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Page 58: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

58

1 Questions from members of the Commission

2 MS BRADLEY I would just make a statement

3 as a district person Ive also had a conversion

4 of a private school to a charter school and it is

5 just as was described earlier the person had to

6 close as the private school that private entity

7 no longer existed and they opened their doors at

8 the beginning of the school as a public charter

9 school So that process is in place and it is

10 supported in staffing

11 I think in terms of what the statute is

12 referring to they cant co-exist I mean they

13 cant remain as a private But they did apply as

14 a private entity but once they became a charter

15 that private school ceased to exist So that is

16 something that is allowed

17 MR McDUFFIE Well what I would add is if

18 that mechanism is set forth in the application

19 then I missed it with respect to this application

20 the fact that this is what we plan to do

21 MS ALEXANDER Well the school wasnt

22 opened until after the application was submitted

23 And I think thats why theres a difference He

24 just wanted to open the school pending the

25 resolution of these issues

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1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

Page 59: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

59

1 And in fact he spoke to the DOE and was

2 advised consistent with what Verdya just said

3 that in fact he could proceed as a private

4 school and then transfer over once the charter was

5 granted So we did everything we could to comply

6 with what we understand the law to be

7 MR McDUFFIE And those things are -- were

8 restricted to the four corners of the application

9 and thats not in the application

10 MR MORENO One of the things I think that

11 could be different in your case the legal entity

12 is the same So I think you know from a lay

13 person reading the statute its pretty clear

14 Now if you close the corporation then

15 thats fine you can have the same Board members

16 create a new corporation with a charter And

17 thats probably what they did in your case

18 MS BRADLEY And that would be my question

19 Richard though is that in terms of the way that

20 this is incorporated does that -- do now we

21 incorporate differently

22 MR MORENO Are the corporations exactly the

23 same

24 MS BRADLEY Yeah

25 MR MORENO One in the same

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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1 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

2 MR MORENO So on the books he would have

3 the financial activity of the private school would

4 continue with the activity of the charter school

5 if that was to happen

6 MS BRADLEY Uh-huh

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Does counsel want to weigh in

8 on this at all

9 MR SHINE When she said Richard I

10 thought she was asking me

11 MS BRUBAKER Youre exactly right I was

12 talking to you

13 MR MORENO See thats what happens when

14 I -shy

15 (Multiple speakers)

16 MS ESPOSITO We need to sit Richard on that

17 side

18 MR SHINE Lets keep in mind that the

19 application of charter status under Subsection 3

20 of 100233 talks about conversion It talks about

21 you can take a public school an existing school

22 a public school and turn it into a charter school

23 or you can be a first-time charter school

24 So I read the statute in the same manner that

25 Verdya reads it that you cant coexist at the

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1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

Page 61: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

61

1 same time as both a private and a charter school

2 but should you close down the corporation and

3 reapply as a charter school for the subsequent

4 school year and thats what youre applying for

5 under the districts application process that

6 thats certainly permissible because the

7 legislative intent is to allow conversion

8 Whether youre converting from a regular public

9 school or from a private school I dont see any

10 prohibition in that You just cant coexist as

11 both at the same time as a private and a charter

12 school

13 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you counselor

14 Jenna did you have something

15 MS HODGENS I did

16 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

17 MS HODGENS Not a question I just want to

18 say I agree and weve had the same situation you

19 close the private school you open the public

20 My concern here is on Page 83 under

21 Governance it says Describe how the school

22 will be organized or operated by a nonprofit

23 And it clearly states The purpose for the

24 corporation is organized for privatecharter high

25 school And I think that just causes conflict

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1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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Page 62: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

62

1 for a district to say -- I mean I couldnt say

2 that this meets the statutory requirements for a

3 charter school This is a privatecharter high

4 school

5 MS ESPOSITO Jenna adding to that I think

6 thats the confusion also for us because the

7 corporation has that word that its private in

8 that section and then also in the testing there is

9 some testing fees If youre a public school

10 youre not charged testing fees so that was very

11 difficult They can exist they are separate but

12 right now I cannot seem to see the separation in

13 the application Im having a hard time

14 CHAIRMAN CHU This is a QampA session Are

15 there any questions from the Commission members

16 MS HITCHCOCK You didnt specifically say

17 if it was to each other

18 (Multiple speakers)

19 CHAIRMAN CHU So now were going to shift

20 gears Are there any questions from members of

21 the Commission

22 MS BRADLEY I will say on Page 86 -- and I

23 guess Ill discuss this -- is that when we talk

24 about the transition piece on E it says

25 Explain one how that founding group is going to

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1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

Page 63: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

63

1 transition

2 I think whats missing in this section is the

3 clarity of the transition that it is not clear

4 how that transition is going to occur

5 DR MYERS First of all again on the

6 private and the incorporation my contact in

7 Tallahassee in regards to this they expressed to

8 me that I can make an amendment in the Articles of

9 Incorporation to pull that out once we were

10 granted charter They expressed to me that I

11 cant pull the private out of there to just have

12 the Charter Inc because Im a private now I

13 have to go with the private so thats what they

14 expressed to me Thats why the private was in

15 there because we didnt know whether we were

16 going to be approved or not

17 So I did contact Tallahassee They had a

18 representative -- excuse me -- a lawyer they spoke

19 with and they expressed to me I could pay for the

20 amendment and pull that out of there And once I

21 pull the private out then we close down So it

22 was steps that had to be taken which we were going

23 to do

24 MS HODGENS So then my question then is

25 what is the name of the school right now

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1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

Page 64: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

64

1 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Private High School

2 MS HODGENS And its going to become what

3 DR MYERS Stephen Biko Charter High School

4 if we were approved

5 MS HODGENS And thats what I would be

6 asking for as a district person -shy

7 DR MYERS Yes maam

8 MS HODGENS -- to make clear that the

9 charter applicant is Stephen Biko Charter High

10 School

11 DR MYERS Yes maam And thats where

12 they expressed to me that I could pay for the

13 amendment pull the private out Once I pull the

14 private out they will change the amendment which

15 takes seconds and now it becomes Stephen Biko

16 Charter High School Inc

17 MS BRADLEY So can I ask a follow-up

18 question

19 DR MYERS Yes maam

20 MS BRADLEY In your Articles of

21 Incorporation under Purpose when it says A

22 purpose for which this corporation is organized is

23 for privatecharter high school Further said

24 corporation has organized exclusively for

25 charitable religious educational scientific

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1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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65

1 purposes would that change as well

2 DR MYERS That would also change because as

3 a private school you have to put that in there

4 Thats what they expressed to me because were a

5 private school so we have -- you know were not

6 funded by the state so we have to take donations

7 contributions and so thats what they expressed

8 to me because they werent going to approve it

9 unless I put that in there because it went all

10 the way to California

11 And I spoke with a representative out in

12 California and then it went back here So they

13 had me teeter-tottering back and forth on this

14 issue here And thats when I called Tallahassee

15 I expressed to them and they expressed to me

16 that -- I called the office here they said no

17 Dr Myers once you are approved if you are

18 approved for the charter -- this was back in July

19 or August somewhere up in that area -- you have

20 to close down you can do an amendment saying what

21 they stated

22 CHAIRMAN CHU Okay Would the district like

23 to respond to that

24 MR McDUFFIE I just want to just add

25 further with respect to confusion I believe its

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1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

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21

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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66

1 on Page 13 of the application where they mention

2 that the school will reserve the right to limit

3 the admission process to students who meet the

4 reasonable academic standards as described in the

5 educational program Its a public school

6 theyre not going to be permitted to limit

7 admission

8 MS HITCHCOCK Can you either speak up or

9 stand up one of the two

10 MR McDUFFIE Ill speak up

11 As I said on Page 13 they seem to have an

12 admission process which is more akin to a private

13 school relative to a public school so that

14 again just adds to the further confusion with

15 respect to are you a private school are you a

16 private school trying to be a charter school or

17 are you going to be public

18 CHAIRMAN CHU Other questions from

19 Commission members

20 (No response)

21 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Seeing none would

22 someone like to make a motion on Issue 2

23 MR GARCIA I will

24 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead Osvaldo

25 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission find

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1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

Page 67: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

67

1 that the School Board did have competent

2 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

3 application based on the applicants failure to

4 meet the requirement of that organizational plan

5 and above identified sections of the Florida

6 Statues

7 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

8 MS BRADLEY Second

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

10 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

11 MR GARCIA Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

13 MS BRADLEY Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK

15 MS BRUBAKER

16 MS HITCHCOCK

17 MS ESPOSITO

18 MS HITCHCOCK

Cathy Brubaker

Yes

Sonia Esposito

Yes

Jenna Hodgens

19 MS HODGENS Yes

20 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

21 MR MORENO Yes

22 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

23 Would someone like to make the second motion

24 MS BRUBAKER I move that the applicants

25 failure to comply with the organizational plan and

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1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

PREMIER REPORTING

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EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

Page 68: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

68

1 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

2 was statutory good cause for denial

3 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

4 MR GARCIA Ill second

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

6 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

7 MS BRUBAKER Yes

8 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

9 MR GARCIA Yes

10 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

11 MS BRADLEY Yes

12 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

13 MS ESPOSITO Yes

14 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

15 MS HODGENS Yes

16 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

17 MR MORENO Yes

18 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Motion carries

19 Lets proceed now to Issue 3 whether the

20 applicant failed to comply with the business plan

21 regarding annual financial plan financial

22 management and oversight facilities food

23 service action plan

24 Again the school you can have a couple of

25 minutes to speak exclusively to the business plan

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

PREMIER REPORTING

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1 Then well give the district the same amount of

2 time

3 MS ALEXANDER Is it okay if I stay seated

4 instead as popping back and forth

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Yes as long as you project

6 MS ALEXANDER With respect to the business

7 plan in the budget the School Board argued that

8 the revenue sources were not contained in the

9 application We argue to the contrary that if you

10 look to Pages 107 to 108 of the application we

11 describe the revenue sources for the school And

12 Attachment B to the application also denotes the

13 start-out budget

14 Pages 109 through 111 of the application also

15 provide additional information that supplement the

16 start-up budget located in the application And

17 so our view with respect to the budget portion is

18 that we did meet the statutory standard and that

19 there wasnt good cause to deny on that basis

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

21 District do you want to add anything

22 MS HEINEY Ill come up front I have a

23 bit of a soft voice

24 As its been noted in the record there are

25 many many deficiencies in the budget section and

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1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

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70

1 really in the entire business plan section One

2 of the examples that we found is in Page 106 they

3 state that theyre going to pay for one-half of

4 the bus passes for students but in the revenue

5 section in Attachment 7 it shows that theyre

6 expecting to receive full revenue for bus passes

7 That doesnt happen You would get one-half

8 FTE because youre only paying for one-half

9 transportation Theyre overstating the revenues

10 Thats not a big dollar amount but it shows a

11 lack of care and concern with money and that is a

12 very big problem for me

13 In their start-up budget they show that

14 theyre going to have $107000 worth of expenses

15 yet Page 107 says theyre going to have $500000

16 in loans When you look at the five-year budget

17 theres nothing that indicates what happens to

18 that leftover $393000 It just disappears

19 I dont like seeing things like that And

20 when Im seeing money not being there money

21 missing unanswerable questions in the business

22 section that becomes grounds for denial because

23 it is not meeting the standard of having a

24 financial plan based on projected revenues and

25 expenses Those revenues and expenses need to

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1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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80

1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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20

85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

PREMIER REPORTING

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EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

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71

1 have some kind of substance behind them some way

2 of showing that they do -- are reasonable to a

3 school of this size

4 Were not expecting it to be exact dollar for

5 dollar when its going to be your first year

6 were only looking for is this number reasonable

7 for a school of this size

8 We found things all over that were not

9 reasonable For example they show that the

10 achieved 3000 they have got $9000 listed for

11 that However the districts best negotiated

12 price is a minimum block of 250 licenses for

13 $14000 Thats the smallest achieving And

14 thats our district with 126000 students

15 If they have been able to negotiate a better

16 price there is nothing no letters of intent no

17 quote nothing from vendors to show that theyve

18 done any better

19 Theyre showing that theyre supposed to get

20 all of these donated furniture fixtures and

21 equipment but not a single letter of intent It

22 has been in our experience that if anybody is

23 willing to donate thousands of dollars of

24 furniture fixtures and equipment fill out a

25 two-paragraph letter saying were going to do this

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1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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73

1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

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1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

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1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

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1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

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77

1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

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78

1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

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1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

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80

1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

PREMIER REPORTING

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20

85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

PREMIER REPORTING

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EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

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72

1 in the future Its happened many times with many

2 applicants

3 CHAIRMAN CHU You got one more minute

4 MS HEINEY One minute okay

5 Like I said the record shows instance after

6 instance in our denial of why we had problems

7 The financial management was a complete mess

8 Again when it says We will make internal

9 controls the statute says describe the controls

10 this is the only way to protect the finances of

11 this district or really the taxpayers money

12 these controls thats it thats the whole

13 security blanket that the taxpayers have And

14 they didnt give us anything to work on

15 CHAIRMAN CHU Thank you

16 Any questions from members of the Commission

17 MS BRADLEY Ill ask the school could you

18 speak to all of the donated -- I mean there is

19 quite a bit in your budget sheets in terms of

20 donated services or dollars loans to support

21 things but yet theres nothing to validate or

22 support that

23 Could you speak to that

24 DR MYERS At the time I spoke to the budget

25 personnel over the budget he expressed to me that

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73

1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

PREMIER REPORTING

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74

1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

PREMIER REPORTING

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75

1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

PREMIER REPORTING

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76

1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

77

1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

PREMIER REPORTING

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premier-reportingcom

78

1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

PREMIER REPORTING

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79

1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

PREMIER REPORTING

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80

1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

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81

1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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82

1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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83

1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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84

1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

PREMIER REPORTING

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premier-reportingcom

20

85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

PREMIER REPORTING

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EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

Page 73: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

73

1 if its a verbal commitment that it does not mean

2 anything for verbal so I went like putting the

3 verbal commitment in there and that was after the

4 budget

5 At the time that I was supposed to meet with

6 the budget personnel for the budget I was not

7 notified so I did not get a chance to go through

8 the budget workshop on that behalf to be able to

9 sit down with the individual to find out because

10 him and I was just meeting on a cordial basis

11 twice two to three times so they did not respond

12 to me or notify me with regards to sitting down

13 with the budget office to go over these things and

14 telling me the discrepancies you know what I

15 needed letters what has to be said in the

16 letters and so forth

17 MS BRADLEY Okay On the very first 20 -shy

18 or its not really labeled a page number but on

19 the very first budget workshop worksheet in the

20 narrative that you have you say that If Stephen

21 Biko received grants and loans -- and Im

22 assuming this is from Jacksonville Economic -shy

23 Development -shy

24 DR MYERS Yes maam

25 MS BRADLEY -- whatever -- and Charter

PREMIER REPORTING

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74

1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

PREMIER REPORTING

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premier-reportingcom

75

1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

PREMIER REPORTING

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premier-reportingcom

76

1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

77

1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

78

1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

79

1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

80

1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

81

1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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82

1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

PREMIER REPORTING

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premier-reportingcom

83

1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

PREMIER REPORTING

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84

1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

20

85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

Page 74: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

74

1 School Loans this will fund start-up expenses

2 Well what happens if you dont get grants and

3 loans

4 DR MYERS Well we had already started

5 school so we were projected for the school to go

6 in as a private school and function as a private

7 school then move over as a charter school which

8 we did and which we are doing now and which we

9 have all of the necessary equipment and everything

10 for the children

11 MS BRADLEY So did you get a loan from the

12 Jacksonville Economic -shy

13 DR MYERS No maam I did not get a loan

14 from the Jacksonville Economic Development

15 MS BRADLEY Okay But thats included in

16 this worksheet correct

17 DR MYERS I dont think I placed it in

18 there No I didnt That was just from the

19 start-up money that will be borrowed from the

20 state of Florida the grant money that you apply

21 for

22 MS BRADLEY So what happens if you dont

23 get that money is what my question is

24 DR MYERS Well we will solicit for private

25 loans and donations and so forth

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

75

1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

76

1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

77

1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

78

1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

79

1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

80

1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

PREMIER REPORTING

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premier-reportingcom

81

1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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82

1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

PREMIER REPORTING

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premier-reportingcom

83

1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

PREMIER REPORTING

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premier-reportingcom

84

1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

20

85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

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75

1 MS BRADLEY You also talk about the fact

2 that custodians are going to donate their own

3 supplies people are going to donate furniture

4 fixtures and equipment

5 DR MYERS But we did not get a letter

6 which they did -- after the application was

7 written and submitted they did provide us with

8 those documents and they did donate the

9 merchandise to us

10 MS BRADLEY But even about the dollar a

11 month for rent -shy

12 DR MYERS Yes

13 MS BRADLEY -- how do we know that is to be

14 so

15 DR MYERS Well I did show the individuals

16 at the time when I applied that Old Stanton Inc

17 was sufficient to charge us $1 a month rent in

18 providing that building

19 MS BRADLEY Okay Im done

20 CHAIRMAN CHU Would the district like to

21 respond

22 MS HEINEY In reference to that $500000

23 being part of the Title V start-up grant if you

24 look at Attachment 7 at the very end of the

25 start-up expenditures worksheet theres a note

PREMIER REPORTING

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premier-reportingcom

76

1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

77

1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

78

1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

PREMIER REPORTING

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premier-reportingcom

79

1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

80

1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

81

1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

PREMIER REPORTING

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premier-reportingcom

82

1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

PREMIER REPORTING

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premier-reportingcom

83

1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

84

1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

20

85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

Page 76: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

76

1 section and the second -- the first line says

2 Computer equipment furniture and all

3 improvements in the classroom in the start-up

4 period with debt funding That means loans

5 That means loan money that you are expecting to

6 pay back Thats any lay persons definition

7 In response to our procedures and Dr Myers

8 saying he never got a budget opportunity our

9 procedures with doing help sessions is that at the

10 beginning of July the applicant submits in a

11 rough draft of their budget section their budget

12 business services and financial management area

13 and if they do that that indicates to us that

14 they want a help session and then we file the help

15 session or -- excuse me -- schedule it

16 They were reminded that they have to initiate

17 this in the general help session which was

18 attended by Dr Myers They were told if you

19 dont hear from us -- if you do submit it and

20 dont hear back from us give us a call

21 Many charter applicants submitted it they

22 all had their individual help sessions and we

23 reviewed everything with them So it is not our

24 responsibility to write the application or even we

25 have no statutory requirement to provide any help

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

77

1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

78

1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

79

1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

80

1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

81

1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

PREMIER REPORTING

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premier-reportingcom

82

1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

83

1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

84

1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

20

85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

Page 77: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

77

1 session We did it as a courtesy to help the

2 applicants

3 However if theyre not willing to take the

4 step of giving us a rough draft so we have

5 something to look at then theres no point in

6 having a help session because we have nothing to

7 review and can give advice on

8 And also in relation to the furniture

9 already being in existence at the end of that

10 same start-up expenditures note it states

11 Furniture will be donated by WW Gay Corporation

12 to equip classrooms and front office I dont

13 assume because they have a private school that

14 theyre going to keep all of their equipment or

15 whatnot It could go to a different area it

16 could go back to somebody I make zero

17 assumptions I go by what is written

18 It says theyre going to be getting donated

19 items not that they already have they will be

20 getting And there was nothing not a single

21 letter to substantiate a single donation

22 If you look in the application there is not

23 a single letter stating that they got the rent for

24 the Old Stanton Building at $1 I can tell you

25 the Governor is giving me a million dollars

PREMIER REPORTING

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premier-reportingcom

78

1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

PREMIER REPORTING

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premier-reportingcom

79

1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

80

1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

PREMIER REPORTING

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81

1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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82

1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

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83

1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

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84

1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

PREMIER REPORTING

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premier-reportingcom

20

85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

Page 78: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

78

1 tomorrow If I dont have something to back it

2 up would a reasonable person believe it So I

3 have to go by what is substantiated in the

4 application itself Verbal agreements well

5 people can make mistakes people can

6 misunderstand people can flatout lie Whats

7 written holds water

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Questions from Commission

9 members

10 DR MYERS May I respond

11 CHAIRMAN CHU Were doing QampA right now

12 Questions from Commission members

13 MS HODGENS I just have one other quick

14 question and this is for the school

15 On Page 107 you talk about food service

16 Can you tell me what you will do with students who

17 fall into the Title I status for free and reduced

18 lunch

19 DR MYERS Yes We will apply for the

20 Title I I know you cant put it there until you

21 apply for it And those individuals we will

22 apply for the Title I because we will be in a

23 category to where we will receive -- could receive

24 it so thats in the process But I could not put

25 that there because its not guaranteed

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

79

1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

80

1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

PREMIER REPORTING

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premier-reportingcom

81

1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

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82

1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

PREMIER REPORTING

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premier-reportingcom

83

1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

PREMIER REPORTING

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84

1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

20

85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

Page 79: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

79

1 MS HODGENS Not even a plan for what you

2 would do for students with free and reduced lunch

3 Could you not put a plan for those free and

4 reduced lunches in there

5 DR MYERS Well the cafeteria that we were

6 going to use was going to generate a percentage of

7 dollar amount per student And at that time we

8 did not know the dollar amount

9 I expressed this to the budget personnel but

10 he said if they did not give me a specific amount

11 I could not put it there you know just extract

12 it from that As far as -- did I answer it

13 MS HODGENS Yeah I think I understand

14 DR MYERS As far as the budget help what

15 happened was I kept going to the budget office -shy

16 excuse me -- going to the charter office

17 constantly asking when was the budget session

18 budget session Ms Erin -- I forgot her last

19 name -- she expressed to me that they would get

20 back with me to let me know a date and time

21 I went to Mr Anthony Cobb who is over the

22 budget I went to Anthony and I said Anthony I

23 never received any confirmation of help sessions

24 and so forth of the budget So he said well

25 Greg youve been coming every week or so forth

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

80

1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

81

1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

PREMIER REPORTING

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premier-reportingcom

82

1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

PREMIER REPORTING

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premier-reportingcom

83

1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

84

1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

20

85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

Page 80: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

80

1 and I dont know why she didnt correspond with

2 you He went to her to ask her and she said she

3 forget about it or whatever

4 But I never received confirmation to go and

5 get help with the budget the last space for it

6 being you know the letters and so forth Thats

7 what I wanted to know what they needed to put in

8 those letters to suffice the district

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Im going to ask respectfully

10 to just answer directly just the questions rather

11 than going back to the previous question

12 DR MYERS Yes sir

13 CHAIRMAN CHU District would you like to

14 respond to the previous question

15 MS HEINEY Well you guys all have the

16 application so you can see the entirety of their

17 food service program Title I funding cannot be

18 used for food so Im not sure where thats coming

19 from They said that theyre not going to apply

20 for NSLP They always said theyre going to use

21 the vendor option and there was no discussion on

22 what to do with children who cant afford the

23 vendor Thats what we graded on

24 CHAIRMAN CHU All right Other questions

25 from Commission members

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

81

1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

PREMIER REPORTING

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premier-reportingcom

82

1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

83

1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

84

1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

20

85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

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81

1 (No response)

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Seeing none would someone

3 like to make a motion

4 MS BRUBAKER Ill make a motion

5 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

6 MS BRUBAKER I move that the Commission

7 find that the School Board did have competent

8 substantial evidence to support its denial of the

9 application based on the applicants failure to

10 meet the requirement of the business plan and

11 above identified sections of the Florida Statutes

12 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

13 MR MORENO Ill second that

14 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

20 MS BRADLEY Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

22 MS ESPOSITO Yes

23 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

24 MR GARCIA Yes

25 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

PREMIER REPORTING

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82

1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

PREMIER REPORTING

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83

1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

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84

1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

20

85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

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82

1 MS HODGENS Yes

2 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion cares Would someone

3 like to make the second motion

4 MS BRADLEY I move that the applicants

5 failure to comply with the business plan and above

6 identified sections of the Florida Statutes was

7 statutory good cause for denial

8 CHAIRMAN CHU Is there a second

9 MR GARCIA Second

10 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

14 MR GARCIA Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

16 MS BRUBAKER Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

18 MS ESPOSITO Yes

19 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

20 MS HODGENS Yes

21 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

22 MR MORENO Yes

23 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries Would someone

24 like to make the final motion

25 MR GARCIA Ill do it

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

83

1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

84

1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

20

85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

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83

1 CHAIRMAN CHU Go ahead

2 MR GARCIA I move that the Commission

3 recommend that the State Board of Education deny

4 the appeal

5 MS ESPOSITO I second

6 CHAIRMAN CHU Jackie

7 MS HITCHCOCK Osvaldo Garcia

8 MR GARCIA Yes

9 MS HITCHCOCK Sonia Esposito

10 MS ESPOSITO Yes

11 MS HITCHCOCK Verdya Bradley

12 MS BRADLEY Yes

13 MS HITCHCOCK Cathy Brubaker

14 MS BRUBAKER Yes

15 MS HITCHCOCK Jenna Hodgens

16 MS HODGENS Yes

17 MS HITCHCOCK Richard Moreno

18 MR MORENO Yes

19 CHAIRMAN CHU Motion carries six-zero by

20 your vote The appeal is denied

21 The recommendation to deny the appeal will be

22 heard by the State Board at an upcoming meeting

23 Jackie will notify you of -shy

24 MS HITCHCOCK No its not this upcoming

25 meeting

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

84

1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

20

85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

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84

1 CHAIRMAN CHU I said at an upcoming

2 meeting

3 MS HITCHCOCK Oh I thought you said this

4 April upcoming meeting

5 CHAIRMAN CHU I said upcoming meeting

6 MS HITCHCOCK Dont make me panic

7 MS ALEXANDER Doesnt it have to be within

8 90 days

9 CHAIRMAN CHU Time frame counsel

10 MR SHINE Yes I believe thats correct

11 Ill have to double-check

12 CHAIRMAN CHU So with that we are

13 adjourned thank you very much

14 MR SHINE Yes that is correct

15 (Whereupon proceedings were concluded at

16 300 pm)

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

20

85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014

Page 85: 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION … · 1 STATE OF FLORIDA 2 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOCATION: 325 ... ... 1

20

85

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

2 STATE OF FLORIDA )

COUNTY OF LEON )

3

4 I MICHELLE SUBIA Registered Professional

5 Reporter certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 taken before me at the time and place therein

7 designated that my shorthand notes were thereafter

8 translated under my supervision and the foregoing

9 pages numbered 3 through 84 are a true and correct

10 record of the aforesaid proceedings

11 I further certify that I am not a relative

12 employee attorney or counsel of any of the parties

13 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties

14 attorney or counsel connected with the action nor am I

15 financially interested in the action

16 DATED this 18th day of April 2013

17

18

19

____________________________

21 MICHELLE SUBIA

NOTARY PUBLIC

22 COMMISSION DD987077

23

24

25

PREMIER REPORTING

(850) 894-0828

premier-reportingcom

EXPIRES JUNE 7 2014