Editor”s Note: EdNC has retained Kristen Blair to cover the monthly meetings of the Charter Schools Review Board in 2025. Kristen currently serves as the communications director for the North Carolina Coalition for Charter Schools. She has written for EdNC since 2015, and EdNC retains editorial control of the content.
The North Carolina Charter Schools Review Board (CSRB) considered renewal terms for 38 public charter schools at its meeting on Monday, Jan. 13, ultimately approving renewals for 32 schools.
Citing financial and noncompliance concerns, the CSRB voted to close one longtime Durham charter school, Community School of Digital and Visual Arts. In addition, the CSRB delayed renewal votes on five schools until February, to ensure more time for financial review and audit submissions.
A new K-8 charter school is also expected to open in Winston-Salem, based on CSRB approval of the application from Legacy Traditional School. Legacy plans to open in 2026.
The CSRB’s meeting began with remarks from new State Superintendent of Public Instruction Maurice “Mo” Green, who shared his vision and hopes for a new era of cooperation between traditional public schools and public charter schools.
“We have got to find ways to work together, to be supportive of each other, and to then develop what I think will be great quality options for our families within the public school system,” he said.
Green encouraged CSRB members to set excellence as their “North Star” and expressed appreciation for their service.
“I want to thank you on behalf of all of the children that are in our charter schools for the work that you have done, that you are doing, and that you will do,” he said.
North Carolina’s renewal process
The CSRB’s agenda this month included 38 schools up for renewal, representing 18% of North Carolina’s 208 charter schools. In order to remain open, these schools must meet financial, academic, and governance standards, with the CSRB as the primary arbiter of adherence.
A new law enacted in 2023 gives the CSRB authority to approve renewals and authorize new charters. Following the new law, the State Board of Education can only review appeals of decisions by the review board.
According to statute, renewal placements are set at 10 years, unless one or more of the following conditions applies:
- The charter school has not provided financially sound audits for the
immediately preceding three years. - The charter school’s student academic outcomes for the immediately preceding three years have not been comparable to the academic outcomes of students in the local school administrative unit in which the charter school is located.
- The charter school is not, at the time of the request for renewal of the charter, substantially in compliance with State law, federal law, the school’s own bylaws, or the provisions set forth in its charter granted by the CSRB.
The state’s Office of Charter Schools recommends renewal terms of 10, seven, five, or three year-terms for individual schools.
Recommendations are based on statute, renewal guidelines, school portfolios, and interviews. During deliberations, the CSRB may also evaluate academic comparability between a charter school and the local school district for various student subgroups.
State Board of Education policy defines charter comparability for those purposes as a “proficiency score that is no less than 5 points of the local school administrative unit’s Composite score based on the EOG/EOC courses offered.”
Financial reviews
Prior to the CSRB’s votes, Jennifer Bennett, senior director at the Department of Public Instruction’s (DPI) Office of School Business, shared a financial report on the 38 schools up for renewal. Twenty-eight schools, she noted in her presentation, had “no significant issues.”
Among the other 10 schools, three were missing 2023-24 audit reports; another, Movement Freedom, turned its audit report in last week. For six schools, Bennett noted “cautionary fiscal concerns,” like declining enrollment or revenue, or expenses that exceeded revenue.
Two schools elicit concern
The CSRB called on leaders from two renewal schools to answer questions before voting took place. The first school, Community School of Digital and Visual Arts, opened in 1998. That school, according to Bennett, lacks two years of audits and is on disciplinary status. The school is also not compliant with several areas of the state’s Performance Framework for charter schools.
In June, the school was put on probationary status.
“I agree that two years of not having audits is unacceptable,” said Joe Battle, board chair for Community School of Digital and Visual Arts.
The school’s previous executive director, current head of school, and operations manager joined him at Monday’s meeting.
“I have real concerns with the noncompliance that’s showing up on the screen right now,” CSRB member Dave Machado said. “I’m very, very uncomfortable with what’s going on.”
Other board members questioned school leaders closely about the cadence of board meetings. In November, the CSRB requested publication of board minutes on the school website, but this task was not completed.
“There is just no transparency here about what the board is doing,” CSRB Chair Bruce Friend said.
Representatives from another school, Haliwa-Saponi Tribal School, located in Hollister, also appeared before the board. Gideon Lee, the school’s board chair, was joined by five board members and an administrator.
Board members expressed concern about comparability with the district and low proficiency rates among Native American students, a key demographic group based on Haliwa-Saponi’s mission. Just 16.4% of the school’s Native American students were proficient last year.
“No matter how you slice and dice this, this is significantly behind the local LEA,” Friend noted.
In response, a school leader emphasized recent growth and expressed an expectation for greater proficiency this year.
“I understand why you come to this Board, and you’re shining the spotlight on the good that you have,” CSRB member Shelly Shope said. “I do think that there is merit, as a school leader myself, in putting the spotlight on when it’s bad.”
“And if it’s not good, you say it’s not good,” she added. “And then, let’s figure out how to fix it.”
The CSRB discussed what to do about both schools at length.
Board members expressed concern about Haliwa-Saponi’s academic performance but also weighed potential impacts on the community if the school were to close.
“Admittedly, it doesn’t look good,” CSRB member Bart Danielsen said of the school’s performance. “But when I look at the alternatives, they don’t look any better.”
“There is something in this school that the community is supportive of,” he added.
CSRB member Alex Quigley acknowledged the school’s purpose in the community but also called out its chronic underperformance academically.
“I’ve seen this story before with Haliwa-Saponi,” he said. “This is going to be the same story every year for the next three years.”
A motion to not renew Haliwa-Saponi’s charter, citing failure to meet performance standards, did not pass.
A second motion to renew the school’s charter for three years did pass, meaning the school will remain open.
Pre-voting discussion around the other school, Community School of Digital and Visual Arts, revealed widespread concern about finances and governance. As a result, the board voted not to renew the school’s charter, citing “failure to meet generally accepted standards of fiscal management” as the primary grounds for non-renewal.
“I’m just so very uncomfortable with the operational integrity of this school,” Machado said.
“I agree with you that the noncompliance — and the lack of responsiveness and the length of time they’ve had to make these corrections — all work against them,” CSRB member Rita Haire said.
10-year renewals
Following school interviews, Jenna Cook of the Office of Charter Schools shared a summary of renewal recommendations. Recommendations are based primarily on academics, she said.
Here are the 19 schools recommended for 10-year renewals, all meeting statutory criteria:
After learning that Washington Montessori and Doral Academy did not submit audit reports, the CSRB elected to delay those votes until February.
While all of the schools recommended for 10-year renewals met statutory requirements, a few had earned low performance grades. Shope expressed discomfort with giving 10-year renewals to those schools.
“I just have to go on record saying that… it does not sit well with me to give a 10-year renewal to schools that are performing at a D status,” Shope said.
“On the other side of that,” Haire said, “I want to note that we have some outstanding schools in this 10-year group.”
The CSRB voted to approve 10-year renewals for 17 schools on the recommendation list.
Other renewals
Recommendations in the next category included a seven-year renewal for Piedmont Classical High School and a five-year renewal for Rolesville Charter Academy.
Based on Piedmont Classical High School’s growth and comparability data with Guilford County, however, the CSRB voted to approve a 10-year, rather than seven-year, renewal. For Rolesville Charter Academy, the board approved a five-year renewal, in line with recommendations.
Schools with three-year placements exhibited the “most variability” around renewal guidelines, Cook said.
Here are the 17 schools recommended for three-year renewals:
Given all the factors involved, Steven Walker, the CSRB’s attorney, recommended individual votes for each school.
Some votes were straightforward, with the CSRB readily approving three year-placements for nine schools: A.C.E. Academy, Kestrel Heights School, Achievement Charter Academy, Rising Leaders Academy, Charlotte Secondary School, Wilmington Preparatory Academy, Southern Wake Academy, Cardinal Charter Academy at Wendell Falls, and Dillard Academy.
Other schools, in the view of CSRB members, merited longer renewal terms for strong academic performance. For instance, the board approved Wilmington School of the Arts for a five-year, rather than a three-year, renewal.
“There has been a significant turnaround by a significantly good leader,” CSRB member Todd Godbey said.
The board also approved Bethany Community School for a five-year renewal.
In perhaps its most significant departure from recommendations, the CSRB approved a seven-year, rather than three-year, renewal for RISE Southeast Raleigh Charter School. The school, board members noted, had made notable progress, improving from an F to a C performance grade.
“They have a leader who is committed,” CSRB member Eric Sanchez said. “And they have a great supporting cast as well.”
Finally, the CSRB delayed voting on three schools recommended for three-year renewals, pending additional review. Those schools are Lakeside Charter Academy, United Community School, and Movement School.
In total, the CSRB approved 18 schools for 10-year renewals; one school for a seven-year renewal; three schools for five-year renewals; and 10 schools for three-year renewals. The CSRB denied one renewal application, for Community School of Digital and Visual Arts in Durham.
Other meeting business
The CSRB also considered a revised application proposed by the Office of Charter Schools to bring greater clarity to future charter applicants. However, 2025 applicants will still complete last year’s application.
While board members agreed on the need for an updated application, they expressed concern about finalizing changes so quickly, given the Jan. 31 launch of the 2025 application cycle. Instead, they recommended delaying revisions for one year and soliciting public comment in the meantime.
Under this year’s timeline, charter applications are due April 25, 2025.
The CSRB also held a second-round interview with leadership from Legacy Traditional Schools, along with representatives from Vertex Education, an education management organization (EMO). Legacy plans to partner with the EMO for help with school operations. Vertex operates 225 schools in 14 states.
During the question and answer session, CSRB members commended the strength of Legacy’s board and the broader school network’s inclusion in a Stanford University report that highlighted “gap-buster” charter schools with success in narrowing achievement gaps.
“The history of gap-busting is, in my mind, quite impressive and important data,” said Danielsen. “I really like when we have groups coming to North Carolina because they’ve got proven models elsewhere.”
Legacy now moves forward into the Ready-to-Open process. Its application was the last of the 2024 cycle.
As the CSRB’s meeting concluded, Machado announced his resignation from the board. On Thursday morning, the NC Coalition for Charter Schools said in a press release that Machado will be the coalition’s next executive director, effective Feb. 1.
“In the two and a half years that I have been on this board, I have even more respect for the people on the board, our diverse views, how we do share these views… in a very professional way,” Machado said at Monday’s meeting. “This is one of the more enjoyable things that I’ve done in my life, and I’m going to miss being on the board and miss each one individually.”
Machado will succeed Lindalyn Kakadelis, who has more than 30 years of experience as a North Carolina education policy leader and advocate.
“I’m excited to lead the Coalition into this next chapter as we continue to protect and promote North Carolina’s public charter schools, educators, parents, and students,” Machado said in the coalition’s press release.
The CSRB meets next Feb. 10-11.
This <a target=”_blank” href=”https://www.ednc.org/01-16-2025-charter-review-board-approves-32-charter-renewals-closes-a-longtime-durham-school/”>article</a> first appeared on <a target=”_blank” href=”https://www.ednc.org”>EducationNC</a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.<img src=”https://www.ednc.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/cropped-logo-square-512-150×150.png” style=”width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;”><img id=”republication-tracker-tool-source” src=”https://www.ednc.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=241781″ style=”width:1px;height:1px;”><script> PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: “https://www.ednc.org/01-16-2025-charter-review-board-approves-32-charter-renewals-closes-a-longtime-durham-school/”, urlref: window.location.href }); } } </script> <script id=”parsely-cfg” src=”//cdn.parsely.com/keys/ednc.org/p.js”></script>
