Anonymous wrote:Now there is a closed meeting about Capital Village scheduled for November 21-- Friday.

I wonder if that's the only school they are discussing.

EdFest is coming so maybe this scheduled meeting indicates that the PCSB is actually taking seriously the need to review schools in trouble and make decisions while parents have sufficient time to determine where their students might be for the upcoming school year. But that’s only true if the PCSB has information that makes them confident that the school can make it through this school year.

Or maybe this is just another instance of the PCSB ignoring data too long for a school that is in real trouble.

The PCSB put Capital Village on a financial corrective action plan that included a number of metrics the school had to meet monthly and quarterly. Yet in NO meeting has the PCSB transparently reported if the school is meeting each of those metrics each month. In fact, in the last meeting, the PCSB reported that the school was in compliance with the FCAP. If the school is meeting the days cash requirement, cash flow from operations, enrollment strategies etc weren’t those designed to show they were financially stronger? Enrollment closed more than a month ago. The first week of school was almost three months ago and few kids move after the first week. Seems like the PCSB has all the information needed but they not being transparent with the public. Or they don’t have the competence to assess the information they do have.

Now there is a closed meeting about Capital Village scheduled for November 21-- Friday.

I wonder if that's the only school they are discussing.

[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.
[/quote]

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.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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: 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. Talk about early intervention and real consequences for bad financial management.

Next meeting December 8.

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.

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!

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?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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: 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. Talk about early intervention and real consequences for bad financial management.

Next meeting December 8.

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.

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!

Anonymous wrote: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: 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. Talk about early intervention and real consequences for bad financial management.

Next meeting December 8.

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.

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: 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. Talk about early intervention and real consequences for bad financial management.

Next meeting December 8.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vRTAIsWw2ldU24jg6Wow723DC911dseqYuex2dcM0238rd0CZJVRKU9BkQi_C8e7LpsTfLHeKUSpiZZ/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=60000

Here is the presentation deck which outlines some changes to the review/renewal process. Most importantly it's going to happen pre-lottery (or try to), so if schools are to be closed it'll happen in the next few months. Also, each school's board will have mandatory annual training.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Meeting materials are now up, mostly.

Re Harmony, i don't really get why a building for 947 students is right for a school that's not even at its 250-kid enrollment cap! But I guess the Harmony organization wants to buy the building. So maybe they're planning to seek permission to expand. They were just a few years ago bailed out by their headquarters and are in general low to middling performance, so that's not a sure thing. I've never understood the appeal of all this.

Capital Village: Enrollment shortfall of 19 kids seems to be the financial problem. If not financially viable, revocation is the next step.

It's not a building for 947 students. It's a 34,962 square foot building. The DCPS standard for school facilities is 192 square feet per student. That works out to a building for 182 students. Of course, charters don't typically have the same facilities as DCPS but even if you lower the standard to 120 square feet a student, it's a building for under 300 students. It's an appropriate building for their current enrollment without any growth.

Harmony's materials say this: "The proposed new location has already received a certificate of occupancy, allowing it to operate as a charter school with food service and a maximum capacity of 947 people. This capacity greatly exceeds the the number of students and staff that we plan to accommodate in the space."

Ok so it's not 947 *students*, but it's way, way, way more than 250 or 300 students. I have no idea how that meshes with what you're saying about building size-- that's something I hope the PCSB would ask Harmony to clarify.

Harmony had 182 students in last year's enrollment audit data. Yes they have recently increased their enrollment by adding preschool, but it's still not a school that has much of a waitlist or attracts a lot of interest. For the most recent lottery they had four students on the waitlist, total, so I don't know where additional students would come from. No doubt the PCSB will go along with this half-baked plan to increase occupancy cost while laying off staff, but I really don't see how it's such a bright idea.

Certificates of occupancy are about life-safety loads not educational capacity. They are often calculated on 20-50 square feet a person and include classrooms, hallways, gyms etc. I have no idea why (or even if) the PCSB allows the CofO to be used to determine how many students can be in a space. Previous reports on charter school facility capacity listed a maximum capacity of 540 students for the space. So, yes, the space can fit more than the Harmony ceiling.

The budget documents suggest that the contingency plan is the reduction of expense IF they fall short of enrollment.

They would be better off in the SSMA building after it is shut down.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Meeting materials are now up, mostly.

Re Harmony, i don't really get why a building for 947 students is right for a school that's not even at its 250-kid enrollment cap! But I guess the Harmony organization wants to buy the building. So maybe they're planning to seek permission to expand. They were just a few years ago bailed out by their headquarters and are in general low to middling performance, so that's not a sure thing. I've never understood the appeal of all this.

Capital Village: Enrollment shortfall of 19 kids seems to be the financial problem. If not financially viable, revocation is the next step.

It's not a building for 947 students. It's a 34,962 square foot building. The DCPS standard for school facilities is 192 square feet per student. That works out to a building for 182 students. Of course, charters don't typically have the same facilities as DCPS but even if you lower the standard to 120 square feet a student, it's a building for under 300 students. It's an appropriate building for their current enrollment without any growth.

Harmony's materials say this: "The proposed new location has already received a certificate of occupancy, allowing it to operate as a charter school with food service and a maximum capacity of 947 people. This capacity greatly exceeds the the number of students and staff that we plan to accommodate in the space."

Ok so it's not 947 *students*, but it's way, way, way more than 250 or 300 students. I have no idea how that meshes with what you're saying about building size-- that's something I hope the PCSB would ask Harmony to clarify.

Harmony had 182 students in last year's enrollment audit data. Yes they have recently increased their enrollment by adding preschool, but it's still not a school that has much of a waitlist or attracts a lot of interest. For the most recent lottery they had four students on the waitlist, total, so I don't know where additional students would come from. No doubt the PCSB will go along with this half-baked plan to increase occupancy cost while laying off staff, but I really don't see how it's such a bright idea.

Anonymous wrote:Meeting materials are now up, mostly.

Re Harmony, i don't really get why a building for 947 students is right for a school that's not even at its 250-kid enrollment cap! But I guess the Harmony organization wants to buy the building. So maybe they're planning to seek permission to expand. They were just a few years ago bailed out by their headquarters and are in general low to middling performance, so that's not a sure thing. I've never understood the appeal of all this.

Capital Village: Enrollment shortfall of 19 kids seems to be the financial problem. If not financially viable, revocation is the next step.

It's not a building for 947 students. It's a 34,962 square foot building. The DCPS standard for school facilities is 192 square feet per student. That works out to a building for 182 students. Of course, charters don't typically have the same facilities as DCPS but even if you lower the standard to 120 square feet a student, it's a building for under 300 students. It's an appropriate building for their current enrollment without any growth.

Harmony is basically cutting back staff by $500K per year to afford a building much bigger than it needs. That's my read of the spreadsheet anyway. Is this about making money on real estate? Because I don't see how this cures their performance shortcomings

Meeting materials are now up, mostly.

Re Harmony, i don't really get why a building for 947 students is right for a school that's not even at its 250-kid enrollment cap! But I guess the Harmony organization wants to buy the building. So maybe they're planning to seek permission to expand. They were just a few years ago bailed out by their headquarters and are in general low to middling performance, so that's not a sure thing. I've never understood the appeal of all this.

Capital Village: Enrollment shortfall of 19 kids seems to be the financial problem. If not financially viable, revocation is the next step.

https://dcpcsb.org/board-meeting-november-2025

The agenda is already up, but I suppose could change based on the closed session they're having on the 14th.

Highlights include charter amendments for Friendship and BASIS, and Harmony trying to move to the Hope Tolson building in Edgewood. I don't see how Harmony is successful enough to expand and how they can afford the building.

Also a presentation on charter reviews/renewals and governance, likely part of their ongoing cleanup of embarrassing oversight failures. School finance monthly report is on the agenda but I didn't see anything interesting in the Oct 27 version.