Reply to PCSB Monday November 17 meeting

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Reply to "PCSB Monday November 17 meeting"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Catching up on the meeting now:

Valerie Jablow testifies about Harmony, asking questions about building purchase and bonds, transparency, process, past building ownership and the Imagine organization. It's always kind of a barrage of information but she was way ahead of the Eagle collapse and has a lot more credibility now because of it.

A parent from Yu Ying testifies about some safety and compliance issues related to a merger, which I wasn't aware of. Basically schools shouldn't be allowed to merge if they have unresolved safety complaints. Not sure what the back story is here.

Harmony: 184 students this year, up from 182 last year, they've hit their building capacity. 17.8% homeless, wow, 49.6 chronically absent, wow. CAPE scores improved but are still pretty low. Says move will increase attendance by being on the metro. Says no relationship with Imagine school CMO. Not a bond, they are pursuing a loan from a nonprofit lender. Says he can recruit more students-- but how is this true when they had basically nobody on the wait-list? Low enrollment scenario is to lay some people off, which he says will have no impact on programming. He says they're doing it for existing projections right now, not seeking an enrollment cap increase or grade band expansion. Treasurer's CSB questions seem like she's leading him to say what she wants to hear-- very softball. Sandman asks for written responses to Jablow's questions. Sandman asks no significant questions. Overall this seems like they're willing to let this dumb idea move forward. Yay, more low-performing seats with financial problems baked in! Disappointing.

Merger presentation about declining enrollment as need for mergers and sustainability. Interesting conversation about emergency mergers, dancing around the Eagle experience. Desire to model how many schools would be merger-eligible and kind of game it all out. Concern over consolidation in big LEAs, lack of sector diversity. Seems like merger is a way to create a feeder pattern by combining two schools that serve different grade bands.

Friendship vote approved.

Presentation about review and renewal process. Emphasis on NO discretion at 15-year renewal, but I don't think they actually think that. I think they'll find a way if they want to. Then the Steve Kornacki of school finance discusses a few more slides.

Financial stuff: [b]Henderson talks about Capital Village. Enrollment shortfall meant loss of revenue of $800,000, causing concern for economic viability, and they may move to initiate revocation. He thinks they can do that process before the lottery.[/b] Talk about early intervention and real consequences for bad financial management.

Next meeting December 8.
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Concern for economic viability? Is there a concern for a mid-year collapse?  Voting before the lottery is great for schools that will not be open next year. It doesn’t solve the issue of a school that becomes insolvent mid-year. [/quote]

The details were not disclosed. I think the PCSB runs some kind of savings fund that allows them to operate a bankrupt school through the end of the year. Yay autonomy! Yay flexibility![/quote]

It is a Yay because schools that aren’t good for kids should close. A significantly under-resourced middle school that is not economically viable doesn’t have the means to give kids a high quality school.

The bigger issue IMO is not that some schools may close, it’s why isn’t the charter board acting earlier? 
[/quote]

Oh I'm fine with the closure. But what did we really get here, big picture? A school that opened, was underenrolled, had low performance, and failed in 5 years. With the public potentially having to pick up the tab for the ending. That's basically just throwing away money. Why was this school even allowed to open? Did they make bad decisions? Everyone likes autonomy and flexibility when the results are good. But this is the cost. Those kids might have been better off at any number of other schools.[/quote]

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