1 State of Delaware

1 STATE OF DELAWARE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 2 and STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION 3

5 In re: Public hearing on the application for a new charter for First State Math and 6 Science Academy

8 The Townsend Building 9 401 Federal Street - 2nd Floor Dover, Delaware 10 Thursday, April 29, 2010 11 3:54 p.m.

13 BEFORE:

14 MICHAEL W. STETTER, D.Ed. SCOTT KESSEL 15 JUDI COFFIELD

16 JOHN B. HINDMAN, ESQ

22 WILCOX & FETZER 23 1330 King Street - Wilmington, Delaware 19801 (302) 655-0477 24 www.wilfet.com

Wilcox & Fetzer, Ltd. Registered Professional Reporters (302) 655-0477 2

1 DR. STETTER: Good afternoon. I

2 declare this public hearing to be open.

3 My name is Dr. Michael Stetter. I'm

4 the director of curriculum, instruction and

5 professional development. And I've been

6 appointed by the Secretary of Education to

7 conduct this public hearing.

8 The First State Math and Science

9 Academy has filed a new charter school

10 application. As is required by law, the matter

11 was referred to the Charter Accountability

12 Committee for investigation and report.

13 This joint public hearing is being

14 held by the Department of Education and the

15 State Board of Education to give the applicant an

16 opportunity to respond to the final report of the

17 Accountability Committee, which recommended that

18 the applicant's application be denied, and also

19 to receive public comments.

20 I would like the record to reflect

21 that the notice of the time, date and place of

22 today's public hearing was published in

23 The News Journal and The Delaware State News on

24 April 9, 2010.

1 In addition, notice was posted at the

2 Charter School Accountability Committee's

3 official place of business, on the Department of

4 Education's official website and on the state

5 public meeting calendar on the state's official

6 website on March 29th, 2010.

7 Further, the First State Math and

8 Science Academy was personally notified of the

9 time, date and place of today's public hearing by

10 letter dated March 19, 2010.

11 A court reporter is present so that a

12 record of this hearing can be made. It will be

13 necessary for each speaker to clearly identify

14 his or herself before beginning to speak so the

15 court reporter will be able to note who you are.

16 The record of this hearing will be

17 provided to the Secretary of Education and

18 members of the State Board of Education together

19 with any written or electronic comments received

20 at or before this hearing.

21 We'll proceed in the following

22 manner: First, we'll hear from any

23 representatives of the charter school who wish to

24 comment on the committee's final report. Then we

1 will take comments from anyone else who desires

2 to speak.

3 There are sign-up sheets at the back

4 of the room and here with me. If you desire to

5 speak, please sign up now. I'll now pause for a

6 minute to permit anyone who so desires to sign up

7 to speak.

8 First, however, could I have a show

9 of hands of all those who desire to make comments

10 so that I can determine whether it may be

11 necessary to impose time limits on those

12 comments? Show of hands.

13 I intend to try to be as liberal with

14 time and reasonable in accepting comments.

15 However, I do reserve the right to limit comment

16 if it is purely repetitive or cumulative.

17 At this point, I'll accept comments

18 from any representatives of the school. You're

19 welcome to join us at the table.

20 MR. KARADUMAN: We have copies. We

21 prepared...

22 MR. HINDMAN: I'd like the record to

23 reflect that a gentleman has just come to the

24 table and handed out a document. Could you

1 identify yourself, sir?

2 MR. KARADUMAN: Ben Karaduman.

3 MR. HINDMAN: And could you spell

4 your name for the court reporter?

5 MR. KARADUMAN: B-E-N. And the last

6 name is Karaduman, K-A-R-A-D-U-M-A-N.

7 MR. HINDMAN: This document that

8 you've handed us, do you desire to have this

9 document made a part of the public record in this

10 hearing?

11 MR. KARADUMAN: Yes, sir.

12 MR. HINDMAN: I'm going to hand this

13 document to the court reporter then and ask that

14 it be marked Exhibit 1.

15 (Exhibit No. 1 was marked for

16 identification.)

17 MR. KANDIL: My name is Fatih Kandil.

18 F-A-T-I-H first name. Last name K-A-N-D-I-L.

19 I'm the principal at Chesapeake Science Point

20 Public Charter School in Hanover, Maryland. And

21 at the same time, I'm a member of the board here

22 for the First State Math and Science Academy in

23 Delaware.

24 I would like to talk about the model

1 that we've been practicing for the last five

2 years, which is the expected replica for the

3 Delaware school here.

4 Chesapeake Science Point Public

5 Charter School was established in 2005. And in

6 the five years, it has accomplished local, state,

7 national and international accomplishments in

8 terms of math, science and technology.

9 According to yesterday's

10 announcement, Chesapeake Science Point Public

11 Charter School is announced to be the best

12 charter school of the year among all 45 currently

13 existing charter schools.

14 So I believe this is a great

15 opportunity for us in Delaware to bring an

16 already experienced, already practiced and

17 already successful model, and maybe reverse the

18 denial which possibly was based on some technical

19 details.

20 Please don't get me wrong, I'm not

21 saying that those are not important details. But

22 what I'm trying to explain is based on a

23 currently existing practiced model, I believe the

24 technical details that are identified can be

1 fixed and the same successful program can be

2 implemented for the children of Delaware if it is

3 approved.

4 Before we actually came to this

5 meeting, we were able to review the preliminary

6 report minutes -- the report. We were able to

7 review the final report. And, also, we were able

8 to review some of the approved charter schools in

9 the past in Delaware and some of the denied

10 charter schools in the past.

11 Compared to our findings with the

12 past practices here, we believe that the

13 identified deficiencies can easily be met by our

14 group, as we did with the results of the

15 preliminary report.

16 Therefore, our expectation was, in

17 the worst case scenario, to at least receive a

18 conditional approval and then move on from there.

19 Because in the final report that we received, we

20 noticed that some of the items included in the

21 final report was not even indicated as a, you

22 know, concern by the experts to be modified or to

23 be corrected.

24 So we did not even have an

1 opportunity to address some of the issues because

2 we were never exposed to such concerns, since we

3 received them only in the final report.

4 Therefore, we believe we need to

5 receive additional time to address the concerns

6 which were not included in the preliminary report

7 and only included in the final report so that it

8 will be a fair opportunity for us to present the

9 full picture of our program.

10 I kindly request that the

11 recommendation would be modified from denial to

12 at least a conditional approval to give the

13 school, the program the opportunity to address

14 the additional concerns brought up in the final

15 report but not in the preliminary one.

16 Mr. Karaduman has actually went over

17 some of the details of such concerns. And I

18 would like to ask him to continue to address

19 those concerns.

20 MR. KARADUMAN: My name is

21 Ben Karaduman, K-A-R-A-D-U-M-A-N. And I am the

22 consultant to the group.

23 We met early September 2009 with our

24 group in the charter school office. We had

1 Dr. Webster, Mr. Kessel and also Deb Hansen from

2 the curriculum department to kind of go over

3 everything. And we explained what we had in

4 mind. And we got kind of the feedbacks from

5 them. And we started to work back then.

6 And it was our understanding that,

7 you know, I think the definition of scope and

8 sequence, you know, what is going to be done, you

9 know. And I was so happy when I heard from

10 Ms. Hansen, you know, after we got the approval

11 that we had one full year to work on the

12 curriculum, you know, to make the alignments and

13 to create the curriculum maps and detail for our

14 teachers that can be hired in the future.

15 Then we just put the, you know,

16 basically the order and the content for each, you

17 know, the subject matter and submitted our

18 application.

19 When we got the clarifying answers,

20 you know, we -- and then it was, you know, our

21 misunderstanding or we didn't understand right

22 way. We thought that that template is going to

23 be completed in phase two with working with the

24 department and then making more detail.

1 And it was brought to our attention

2 that we have to do the template, you know, during

3 phase one in the application. And I ask -- you

4 know, it's very small amount of time. It's going

5 to be time -- you know, we will not have enough

6 time. Then we were told that we can submit the

7 core subjects, you know, the math, science,

8 social studies and the English/language arts.

9 And then, you know, we work very hard

10 and, I don't know, more than 250 pages what we've

11 done. We basically went over the teachers in the

12 current school in Maryland. Because since we are

13 replicating, we got the annual plans. Of course,

14 the standards and everything is different. We

15 brought the content over there. Then we put the

16 standards and the learning expectations. And

17 then we just tried to come up with, you know,

18 with the document as much as we can.

19 And then, you know, when we got --

20 I'm just going to go over criterion six and seven

21 very quickly. And in the preliminary report, it

22 stated that the documents were submitted for

23 six through eight and then the revisions for nine

24 through ten are missing. You know, it was kind

1 of we did it at that time, but they were kind of

2 missed in the application.

3 And then it says the submitted

4 revisions still fail to be a user friendly

5 document that clearly shows when and how the

6 Delaware math grade level expectations will be

7 implemented.

8 Then we were asked to make an

9 appointment to meet with the math specialist in

10 the department. And I contacted them. And then,

11 you know, we kind of got -- I think they went on

12 vacation, the person that I'm going to be

13 meeting. And then before that, they were busy

14 and they couldn't give us a time.

15 And then when we submit the ninth and

16 tenth grade and then when we make an appointment

17 and discuss the issues with the department, we

18 thought that, you know, we're in good shape, you

19 know, because it says -- you know, it wasn't

20 referring anything in detail, like the resources

21 or any kinds of things, that we really didn't

22 look at those.

23 And then when we got the final

24 report, you know, the resources, materials, you

1 know, scope and sequence documents should be

2 specific to certain specific curriculum

3 resources, you know, we had a lot of resources.

4 But, you know, we were under the impression that

5 we were going to sit and work with math coalition

6 in the next year and then decide which was going

7 to be the best to implement our program in

8 Delaware; rather than saying that, okay, we're

9 using this in Maryland. Just bring that book

10 over here. We really didn't look at that thing.

11 And then, you know, after meeting,

12 you know, our concern is just -- you know, after

13 the preliminary reports, submitted ninth and

14 tenth grade, you know, the scope and sequence and

15 then work with the department, make the document

16 a little bit more user friendly. We really

17 didn't look -- and we didn't submit anything in

18 addition other than the ninth and tenth grade.

19 And after meeting with Ms. Roscoe

20 from the math department, you know, she explained

21 to me what they were looking for. And in the

22 template, it says unit and/or time. You know, it

23 was basically in one month what we're going to be

24 covering or we can put just one unit over there

1 what we're going to be covering. But she said

2 they want the timeline. For instance, the

3 quality equation, we need like three to five

4 weeks. Clarification. No problem. If we knew

5 that, we could have done that.

6 And then, you know, we went over a

7 couple other things. She said she was going to

8 make it -- kind of, you know, changes in the

9 template and send it over to me. And I got this

10 on the 22nd. We already finished the sixth

11 grade. You know, we're working on it. It's not

12 a big deal. Everything is there. We just have

13 to organize it, you know.

14 And, you know, then, as I said, we

15 thought that we were okay and that we don't need

16 to do much work on that. But it is now on the

17 table that we have to do a lot of work, which we

18 don't have problem. We can still do that. But

19 we need some more time.

20 And then the guidelines, when you

21 look at the guidelines in the application and the

22 template, it wasn't sufficient when you look at

23 the final report.

24 And the science and social studies,

1 when we were asked, we submitted those. After

2 the clarifying questions, we submitted all those.

3 And then the preliminary report stated that we

4 submitted those and that they were okay.

5 And then during the clarifying

6 answer, it was just asked how we're going to be

7 innovative in social studies. And we just put

8 over there technology integrated education is

9 going to be used to make it innovative. And then

10 it is noted over there.

11 And then I wasn't in the meeting, but

12 in the April 8 meeting, there was a written

13 statement from Dr. Stetter stating that nothing

14 was submitted for science and social studies, you

15 know. And then that was very bad because some of

16 the committee members thought that we were

17 ignorant, we were irresponsible for not

18 submitting everything.

19 That was kind of bad and that it

20 might be -- you know, in our opinion, it may have

21 been a factor on the committee members to make

22 the decision not -- it could have been, for

23 instance, conditional on that.

24 And then after the 6th, it was very

1 hard to listen at those committee meetings

2 because you can't speak even a little bit, you

3 know, because we were just sitting over there.

4 You know, we submitted. It was kind of

5 difficult.

6 But after the meeting, our friends --

7 you know, I think Dr. Webster, they talked to

8 Dr. Webster. And then Mr. Cruz approached us and

9 said, oh, it was a misunderstanding. Okay. Then

10 we will meet one more time.

11 And then there was another meeting

12 held on the 19th. But we don't see any reference

13 to that meeting on the report as well.

14 And then when we look at the science

15 curriculum, you know...

16 And then the other interesting thing

17 that came to our attention on the report,

18 February 19th, curriculum documents were

19 received. And then that was it in the report

20 that we were submitting. But when we got the

21 final report, there is additional clarifying

22 questions over there. We never saw them before.

23 They were not in the preliminary report. So I

24 highlighted them in here so you can easily see

2 And it is the same thing in social

3 studies. It says, "The curriculum documents were

4 received. Technology integrated education will

5 be utilized to engage students in social studies.

6 Amended scope and sequence is for grades six

7 through eight," which does not tell anything that

8 we need to be doing more work, you know, on

9 social studies.

10 But when we got the final report

11 stating that social studies, you know, the

12 curriculum, you know, submitted but it is not

13 approved, it was kind of shocking for us.

14 Basically we don't know where these

15 additional clarifying, you know, the questions

16 came from. How are we going to respond, I mean,

17 if we don't know them, you know.

18 And then in the preliminary report,

19 it was saying that -- you know, we assume since

20 it is not saying anything against the curriculum,

21 we are under the impression that it was approved.

22 But why in the final report is it saying not

23 approved? You know, there might be a couple

24 reasons over there. But those reasons they did

1 not -- we didn't see them before. They were not

2 brought to our attention.

3 And for physical education and world

4 languages, you know, they were the last portion

5 of the documents that we submitted. And, you

6 know, we already revised the PE documents, you

7 know, which is not a big deal. And then we're

8 working on the world languages. And those are

9 the concerns that the committee raised. But we

10 believe that we can fix them easily.

11 And for special education, you know,

12 if the committee remembers, in the preliminary

13 report, preliminary report meeting, you know, it

14 was -- I don't remember the lady's name. She

15 said -- you know, she raised a couple concerns

16 stating the responsibility on the special

17 education coordinator. And then there's not

18 enough involvement or training from the regular

19 education teachers.

20 Then later on, she looked at it. She

21 saw the professional involvement and stuff over

22 there. And then she kind of gave different

23 recommendation. And the committee was tied on

24 that.

1 But in the final report, it came as a

2 continuum placement of the at-risk students. But

3 when we go back and look at the clarifying

4 answers, you know, we put over there the options

5 for the students. It says that these options

6 fall within the IDEA's continuum of placements,

7 which include hospitals, home placement, special

8 education day classes, neighborhood schools and

9 other settings. Those are exactly -- I put also

10 the law. On the second page, you know, exactly

11 the copy and paste from the law.

12 But the final report says that there

13 is no -- you know, we're not referring to the law

14 how we're going to be, you know, providing the

15 placement of those students. I think it is in

16 there. It might be an oversight or -- there's a

17 lot of different documents. And we believe that

18 it's in there, too. And it is clearly stated

19 that it's right there.

20 And then on the other hand, one place

21 in the report said that, you know, if we are not

22 able to meet the needs of the student, we're

23 going to tell the parents the student cannot

24 attend. I think that's also a misunderstanding

1 from our report.

2 What we said over there, if we are

3 unable to find a solution and we say it seems to

4 be like impossible to meet the kid's needs, we're

5 going to consult and communicate with parents and

6 local school district officials and the state

7 just to find the right solution and the right,

8 you know, alternative placement for the students

9 to give them services.

10 You know, charter schools -- usually

11 the district and the state, they have more

12 resources, as far as -- not money-wise, but the

13 expertise and personnel-wise. It's always good

14 to consult with them as well. I also wanted to

15 clarify on that.

16 And the staffing of alternate

17 placement, you know, since we don't have a case

18 on hand, what kind of disability do they have or

19 what are we doing, homebound or hospital or

20 whatever, it's unclear for us how we're going to

21 identify.

22 The only thing that we just -- I

23 would consult with Mr. Kessel. And basically we

24 took the percentage of the students in terms of

1 the rate in those districts and we basically

2 budgeted on those numbers that we're going to

3 have that many special education staff and we're

4 going to try to give services.

5 And it's our hope considering all

6 those clarifications and the comments that the

7 secretary is going to give us a chance to fix

8 those corrections and at least, like Mr. Kandil

9 said, condition approval and go forward.

10 Thank you so much.

11 DR. STETTER: Thank you.

12 MR. KANDIL: Can I make one comment?

13 DR. STETTER: Please identify

14 yourself.

15 MR. KANDIL: Sure thing.

16 Fatih Kandil. Again, F-A-T-I-H K-A-N-D-I-L.

17 This might be some unusual practice,

18 maybe never done before, I'm not sure, but I

19 would like to offer an invitation to all the

20 committee members, the secretary and also the

21 board members, if they would be interested, to

22 come to Chesapeake Science Point Public Charter

23 School and observe -- if they're interested in

24 getting into the classrooms, observe what is

1 going on, you know, on site with more hands-on

2 experience, rather than just the documents, that

3 would be -- that has been something practiced by

4 the Baltimore City School's officials. And they

5 just approved a sister school for Baltimore City

6 based on their observations and application, of

7 course. And some other jurisdictions are

8 interested in coming and visiting the school as

9 well.

10 So I would like to offer that.

11 Whatever date and time works for them, we'll be

12 happy to host them.

14 MR. KANDIL: Thank you so much.

15 DR. STETTER: At this point, I will

16 accept comments from anyone else who desires to

17 speak. Please remember to identify yourself

18 before you begin your comments. We'll take those

19 folks who have signed up.

20 John Tekmen.

21 MR. TEKMEN: Good afternoon, ladies

22 and gentlemen. Thank you for giving us the

23 opportunity to speak here. My name is

24 John Tekmen. I live in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

1 I'm here representing myself, my wife and my two

2 children, who are ages 14 and 12.

3 I'm here in support of this charter

4 school. I found -- when I was asked to tour the

5 school and researched it a little bit, I looked

6 at their school in Hanover, Maryland. And from

7 going from year one to year five and their

8 placement of their children and their scores, I

9 found it to be a very impressive model.

10 You all have a very difficult task in

11 making decisions dealing with, you know, a lot of

12 children and their lives and their future is at

13 stake.

14 I've been on a couple of school

15 boards. And if I was in your position and in a

16 situation like this, I would have rejected -- I

17 would reject the application.

18 However, they're not a brand new

19 school. They have a working model and a

20 well-performing model. And I feel that that

21 experience and that expertise being transferred

22 over here, they will be successful in what

23 they're trying to accomplish.

24 Right now, my family is in a

1 difficult situation where we're trying to search

2 and look and see where we're going to place our

3 children. Currently they attend a small private

4 school in Georgetown, Delaware, Jefferson School,

5 a very good school. We pride ourselves in being

6 a small school, but a big family.

7 They're doing very well. My older

8 boy is graduating and he's going to be moving

9 into high school. And we live in a small area.

10 We live in a tight area. And there aren't that

11 many options for us to choose from. This gives

12 us an opportunity, another alternative that I

13 think will be a very good, viable alternative, as

14 far as location and distance in driving. Well,

15 we drive many, many, you know, minutes, hours to

16 take our children to their school already.

17 I'm in favor of this school. I think

18 you should grant -- I don't know the specifics.

19 I mean, the gentleman here explained generally

20 the mistakes or errors that have been made. And

21 they may be technical errors; they may be serious

22 errors. But, again, I go back to if they were

23 first time coming to you asking for approval, you

24 would be well within your right to deny them.

1 But having that working model and that experience

2 should hopefully weigh in on your decision.

3 Thank you for your time.

5 Mr. Tim Mutter.

6 MR. MUTTER: Good afternoon. My name

7 is Tim Mutter.

8 I believe the school will not let any

9 child fail because they don't monitor students

10 after it's too late; they monitor them from day

11 one. They go on to utilize state-of-the-art

12 software which facilitates parents to follow the

13 progress, assignments and scores of the students.

14 In case students are still failing, they offer

15 extracurricular programs to remedy the problem.

16 I found it very impressive.

18 Mr. Ozgur Ozgurk. I don't know if

19 I'm pronouncing it correctly.

20 MR. OZGURK: Ozgur Ozgurk. O-Z-G-U-R

21 first name. Last name is O-Z-G-U-R-K.

22 I'm a resident of Delaware. I'm

23 married. I have two kids. And my oldest son

24 likes the math and science. And this group of

1 people, we have nice comments. They're doing

2 very well in Maryland. So we like to have one in

3 Delaware so we can send our kids.

4 Thank you.

6 Ms. Lisa Celik.

7 MS. CELIK: Celik, C-E-L-I-K.

8 Much like Mr. Tekmen, I have children

9 that are products of Delaware schools. My two

10 oldest went through Sussex Academy. Very, very

11 pleased with that product. They came out of

12 eighth grade just -- I couldn't have asked for

13 more. And then we had to decide what we're going

14 to do in 9th grade and we really struggled.

15 My oldest son graduates in two weeks

16 from Millsaps College in Mississippi. He'll be

17 going into med school. But he spent his first

18 two years almost not wanting to go into medicine

19 because the science was so difficult for him at

20 this college.

21 When he was in honor science at Cape,

22 he was doing what he was doing in 8th grade at

23 Sussex Academy. And I just see the need for kids

24 that really have that desire and parents that

1 really have that need to see their kids succeed

2 to have that benefit of a high school math and

3 science. And when we're down in the Eastern

4 Shore or down in Sussex County, there's not that

5 many options that we feel.

6 Rachel is now -- my daughter -- she

7 went through the academy and she's at Delaware.

8 She struggled as well. She felt like she lost a

9 few years in high school. And she had to get

10 some tutoring and things in math.

11 And looking at some other schools in

12 New Jersey, other -- I have not been to the

13 school in Hanover, Maryland. But knowing the

14 model and how it works, to just give our children

15 the option, those that really thrive in that

16 area, I think is something that's hard to deny.

17 I don't know the politics or the

18 language of why things were, you know, put aside

19 to begin with. But coming to you as a parent, if

20 we have more options in the form of charter

21 schools, that can only produce better graduates

22 and then go on to, you know, represent our state

23 well.

24 So I just ask that the board members,

1 whoever reads the notes, whoever reads the

2 comments, just also go beyond what's the written

3 word, but see -- you know, think again of the

4 children and what our options are and how we can

5 best serve them.

7 MS. CELIK: Thank you.

8 DR. STETTER: Is there anyone else

9 who desires to speak on behalf of this

10 application?

11 If not, I want to thank all of you

12 for participating today. The secretary will

13 consider your comments in deciding what

14 recommendation to propose for the consent of the

15 state board.

16 This hearing is now closed.

17 (Transcription ended at 4:23 p.m.)

19 - - - - -

1 State of Delaware ) ) 2 County of New Castle )

5 C E R T I F I C A T E

6 I, Patricia L. Shelton, Notary Public, do

7 hereby certify that the foregoing record, pages 2

8 to 27 inclusive, is a true and accurate

9 transcript of my stenographic notes taken on

10 Thursday, April 29, 2010, in the above-captioned

11 matter.

12 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my

13 hand and seal this 3rd day of May, 2010, at

14 Wilmington.

18 Patricia L. Shelton 19

Wilcox & Fetzer, Ltd. Registered Professional Reporters (302) 655-0477 Wilcox & Fetzer, Ltd. Registered Professional Reporters (302) 655-0477 1 STATE OF DELAWARE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 2 and STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION 3

5 In re: Public hearing on the application for a new charter for Gateway Lab School 6

8 The Townsend Building 401 Federal Street - 2nd Floor 9 Dover, Delaware

10 Thursday, April 29, 2010 3:45 p.m. 11

12 BEFORE: 13 MICHAEL W. STETTER, D.Ed. 14 SCOTT KESSEL JUDI COFFIELD 15 JOHN B. HINDMAN, ESQ 16

3 My name is Dr. Michael Stetter. I am

5 professional development. I have been appointed

6 by the Secretary of Education to conduct this

7 public hearing.

8 The Gateway Lab School has filed a

9 new charter school application. As is required

10 by law, the matter was referred to the

11 Charter Accountability Committee for

12 investigation and report.

18 the applicant's application be approved, and also

24 April 9, 2010.

7 Further, the Gateway Lab School was

8 personally notified of the time, date and place

9 of today's public hearing by letter dated

10 March 19th, 2010.

14 his or herself before beginning to speak so that

15 the court reporter will be able to note who you

16 are.

17 A record of this hearing will be

18 provided to the Secretary of Education and the

21 at or before this meeting.

22 We will proceed in the following

23 manner: First, we will hear from any

24 representatives of the charter school who wish to

1 comment on the committee's final report. Then

2 we'll take comments from anyone else who desires

3 to speak.

4 There are sign-up sheets in the back

5 of the room. If you desire to speak, please sign

6 up now. I'll pause for a minute to permit anyone

7 who so desires to sign up to speak. First,

8 however, could I have a show of hands of all

9 those who desire to make any comments so I can

10 determine whether it may be necessary to impose a

11 time limit on comments?

16 At this point, I'll accept comments

17 from any representatives of the school.

18 MS. DRAPER: Good afternoon. My name

19 is Pamela, P-A-M-E-L-A, Draper, D-R-A-P-E-R. I'm

20 a parent and business owner. And I serve as the

21 chair of the Gateway Lab School board.

22 On behalf of the board, I would like

23 to thank Dr. Lowrey and the Board of Education

24 for their consideration of the Charter School

1 Accountability Committee's recommendation that

2 Gateway Lab School be approved.

3 I would also like to thank the

4 Charter School Accountability Committee for the

5 time and work that they put in to reviewing our

6 application. The feedback they provided us on

7 our application has been very helpful.

8 Despite some of the fine-tuning that

9 needs to be done, I believe from their comments

10 during the review process that they believe, as

11 we do, that the GLS model is dynamic and will

12 give struggling students the tools they need to

13 achieve success.

14 In January 2007, I approached

15 Dr. Lowrey and former secretary Valerie Woodruff

16 at a restaurant in Newark. I introduced myself

17 and spoke to them briefly about the struggles my

18 two sons, one with ADHD and one with learning

19 disabilities, were having in the classroom.

20 I told them that I had learned of the

21 Lab School of Washington and their success

22 teaching children with LD and ADHD using the arts

23 in experiential learning.

24 I had corresponded with Sally Smith,

1 the founder and director of LSW for several

2 months and was scheduled to visit the school

3 later that month. Although Lab School is a

4 private school, I believe that their model could

5 be adapted to a charter school setting.

6 I was truly inspired by what I saw

7 when I visited the Lab School. I sat in on

8 classes and I met with administrators and

9 parents. I met several parents whose children

10 had graduated from the Lab School 10 to 15 years

11 earlier who were still actively involved with

12 volunteering and fund-raising for the school.

13 That said a lot.

14 These parents were eternally grateful

15 for the education that their children had

16 received and the accomplishments that they had

17 went on to achieve as adults.

18 Our board has maintained a

19 relationship with the Lab School over the last

20 three years touring the Baltimore Lab and meeting

21 with administrators from the academy in Manayunk

22 in Philadelphia, which is a private school that

23 adopted the Lab School's principles with

24 tremendous success since opening in 2006.

1 Needless to say, we are looking

2 forward to seeing Gateway Lab School come to

3 fruition. After more than three years of work, I

4 would personally like to thank the outstanding

5 board members that I have had the privilege to

6 work with. They continue to believe in our

7 mission even after the setback we experienced in

8 applying for a charter in 2008. They all have

9 been unwavering in their support.

10 I would especially like to thank

11 Dr. Jodi Forestieri, who wrote our curriculum,

12 and Mr. Sherlock Hack, who's in charge of working

13 on the budget projections.

14 I just came from attending a

15 transition conference with my youngest son,

16 Jared, at the Dover Sheraton that was held today.

17 And the keynote speaker there was

18 Jonathan Mooney, who is an author and a special

19 ed advocate who has dyslexia. And he didn't read

20 until he was 12 years old. He went on to

21 graduate with honors from Brown University with a

22 degree in English.

23 He spoke of the need for students

24 with learning differences to not just be

1 remediated, but to be empowered to use their

2 abilities to propel them to success in education

3 and in their future careers.

4 It is the goal and mission of

5 Gateway Lab School under the accountability of

6 the Department of Education to provide an

7 environment where our students will be empowered

8 to reach their full potential.

9 Thank you.

11 MR. HACK: Good evening. My name is

12 Sherlock Hack, treasurer of Gateway Lab School.

13 S-H-E-R-L-O-C-K H-A-C-K.

14 I presently serve as the treasurer on

15 the board presently. And I'd like to thank the

16 committee for getting us this far, as far as

17 joining the application process.

18 I remember three years ago when Pam

19 first introduced the school to me. I've already

20 had experiences with kids with learning

21 disabilities. I don't have any kids, but I do

22 come across a lot of parents with kids that have

23 learning disabilities.

24 And she first introduced the

1 Lab School and said she wanted to have this

2 public school modeled after the Lab School and

3 the way they actually teach the kids. I told her

4 I'd take a look at it.

5 I did look at it. We did like it.

6 She then put together a board, which I think has

7 worked diligently for the last three years to get

8 the school to where it is right now.

9 Again, I'd like to thank the

10 committee for bringing us this far. I do believe

11 the school will serve the Delaware community in a

12 very positive way. I believe it is history in

13 the making. And I do look forward to working

14 with the Board of Education in Delaware and

15 further with the committee, the Charter Committee

16 of Delaware.

17 Thank you.

19 At this point, I will accept comments

20 from anyone else who desires to speak pertaining

21 to the Gateway Lab School. Please remember to

22 identify yourself before you begin your comments.

23 If not, I want to thank you all for

24 participating today. The secretary will consider

1 your comments in deciding what recommendation to

2 propose for the consent of the state board.

6 - - - - -

8 to 10 inclusive, is a true and accurate

9 transcript of my stenographic notes taken on

10 Thursday, April 29, 2010, in the above-captioned

11 matter.

14 Wilmington.

5 In re: Public hearing on the application for a new charter for Rosalie Obara City 6 Charter School

13 BEFORE:

3 My name is Dr. Michael Stetter. I am

8 The Rosalie Obara City Charter School

9 has filed a new charter school application. As

10 is required by law, the matter was referred to

11 the Charter Accountability Committee for

18 the applicant's application be denied, and also

24 April 9, 2010.

6 website on March 29, 2010.

7 Further, the Rosalie Obara City

8 Charter School was personally notified of the

9 time, date and place of today's public hearing by

10 letter dated March 19, 2010.

11 MR. HINDMAN: I'm going to interrupt

12 at this point because I'd like the record to

13 reflect that there's no one in the room except

14 the hearing officer, myself, the court reporter

15 and Dr. Coffield, the policy analyst for the

16 State Board of Education.

17 So it would appear that no one has

18 appeared today to speak on behalf of this

19 application.

20 (Whereupon, Mr. Kessel entered the

21 proceedings.)

22 MR. HINDMAN: And the DOE staff has

23 advised us that there's no one who is signed up

24 on any of the sign-up sheets to speak.

1 That being the case, it seems to me

2 that there's nothing further to be done here this

3 afternoon except to close the hearing, if that's

4 agreeable to the hearing officer?

5 DR. STETTER: That is agreeable.

7 (Proceedings concluded at 4:28 p.m.)

9 - - - - -

8 to 4 inclusive, is a true and accurate transcript

9 of my stenographic notes taken on Thursday,

10 April 29, 2010, in the above-captioned matter.

13 Wilmington.

5 In re: Public hearing on application to modify the charter of Academy of Dover Charter 6 School

13 BEFORE:

3 My name is Dr. Michael Stetter. I'm

8 The Academy of Dover Charter School

9 has filed a modification application. As is

10 required by law, the matter was referred to the

11 Charter's Accountability Committee for

14 held by the Department of Education and the State

15 Board of Education to give the school an

18 a portion of the school's modification

19 application be approved and also to receive

20 public comments.

1 April 9th, 2010.

4 official place of business on the Department of

8 Further, the Academy of Dover Charter

9 School was personally notified of the time, date

10 and place of today's public hearing by letter

11 dated March 25th, 2010.

15 his or herself before beginning to speak so that

16 the court reporter will be able to note who you

17 are.

18 The record of this hearing will be

19 provided to the Secretary of Education and the

22 at or before this meeting.

23 We'll begin in the following manner:

24 First, we will hear from any representatives of

1 the charter school who wish to comment on the

2 committee's final report. Then we'll take

3 comments from anyone else who desires to speak.

4 There are sign-up sheets that I have here.

5 Has anybody entered the room that

6 cares to speak on behalf of this case? If so, I

7 need you to sign in on this sheet.

8 Anybody here that will be making

9 comments that we don't have names for at this

10 point?

11 I will now pause for a minute to

12 permit anyone who so desires to sign up if they

13 want to speak. First, however, could I have a

14 show of hands of all those who desire to make any

15 comments so that I can determine whether it may

16 be necessary to impose time limits of any sort?

17 How many of you are prepared to make

18 remarks for the record?

24 from any representatives of the school. Please

1 feel free to join us at the table.

2 Please remember to identify yourself

3 before you start your remarks.

4 MS. WATSON: Good afternoon. I'm

5 Clytrice Watson. I am the president of the board

6 of directors of the Academy of Dover Charter

7 School. My first name spelled C-L-Y-T-R-I-C-E.

8 First of all, thank you for allowing

9 us to have this moment. And I will be brief.

10 Just to identify the board members that are here

11 with me, Kimeu Boynton, vice president;

12 Leida Sanchez, treasurer; Frederick Duffy, board

13 member; and Noel Rodriguez, school administrator.

14 On behalf of the board of directors

15 of the Academy of Dover, we would like to thank

16 the Department of Education for their assistance

17 over the course of the past three years.

18 As you already know, the Academy of

19 Dover has faced many obstacles. But I am very

20 proud to say that we have overcome many of those

21 obstacles to become a very viable school in our

22 community.

23 We have worked diligently to meet the

24 conditions imposed on us by DOE in 2007 with the

1 exception of the enrollment, which was the

2 premise for our request for the modification.

3 The current board saw a need for

4 several changes with the academy, including a

5 change in leadership of the school. And under

6 the current administrator, Mr. Rodriguez, a

7 number of changes have occurred both physically

8 and financially. And he also took the liberty of

9 identifying problems that the board had not

10 identified. And he addressed those problems with

11 vigor.

12 We have acted aggressively to recruit

13 students to meet the current enrollment numbers.

14 And this has been a problem for us for a number

15 of reasons, which is the premise for us

16 requesting the modification in our charter to

17 reduce our enrollment numbers down to 300.

18 And we are appreciative of the

19 recommendation by the Accountability Committee to

20 approve that portion of our charter. And I want

21 to say thank you for that. But I did want to

22 also mention the reason that we requested the

23 number of school days be reduced was the fact

24 that we ran into a lot of problems with -- what's

1 the word -- students skipping school, more

2 because their parents are pulling them out.

3 The school actually became a day care

4 center for parents for their students in the

5 summertime because we were in school two weeks

6 after -- or, we are in school two weeks after

7 mainstream public schools.

8 So that was the premise for us

9 requesting the reduction in the school days; not

10 to eliminate any additional instruction time. We

11 are still very diligent about making sure that

12 our students receive adequate instruction. But

13 it was a matter of meeting the needs of the

14 public.

15 So we know that that's been addressed

16 with the Accountability Committee. But I did

17 think it was important to mention that here again

18 just to reiterate our premise for requesting that

19 modification.

20 So that's really all that I have to

21 say. I just want to say thank you. I promised I

22 would be brief. And I'm done.

24 Mr. Boynton, did you --

1 MR. BOYNTON: No, I didn't want to

2 make any comments. Thank you.

3 DR. STETTER: And, Ms. Watson, I

4 believe you had signed both sheets, right?

5 MS. WATSON: I did.

6 DR. STETTER: All right. I wanted to

7 make sure I didn't miss somebody.

9 from anyone else who desires to speak. Please

10 remember to identify yourself before you begin

11 your comments.

12 Mr. Rodriguez, do you have any?

13 MR. RODRIGUEZ: No. Thank you.

14 DR. STETTER: Ms. Sanchez?

15 MS. SANCHEZ: No. I'm okay. Thank

16 you.

17 DR. STETTER: I'm not seeing anyone

18 else who desires to make comments. If not, I

19 want to thank you all for participating today.

20 The secretary will consider your comments in

21 deciding what recommendation to propose for the

22 consent of the state board.

8 to 8 inclusive, is a true and accurate transcript

9 of my stenographic notes taken on Thursday,

10 April 29, 2010, in the above-captioned matter.

13 Wilmington.

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