Troubles Brewing for STARS Board
Bonnie McPeake during the meeting. Hannah Sharpe
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STARS Board Meeting
More than 25 parents crowded into a small conference room Friday at Sandhills Business Park on U.S. 1 in Aberdeen for a special meeting in which the STARS Charter School Board of Directors went through a training session with Jack Moyer, director of the N.C. Office of Charter Schools. The Office of Charter Schools placed the board on “governance probationary status” July 16 after learning that the board has been out of compliance with its own bylaws and has violated the state open meetings law. One of the more dramatic moments in the meeting happened when board member Bonnie McPeake resigned from the board and left the meeting. After the meeting, she said she would not resign.
The STARS Charter School Board of Directors has some changes to make if it hopes to comply with state operating standards by October.
More than 25 parents crowded into a small conference room today at Sandhills Business Park on U.S. 1 in Aberdeen for a special meeting in which the board went through a training session with Jack Moyer, director of the N.C. Office of Charter Schools.
The Office of Charter Schools placed the board on “governance probationary status” July 16 after learning that the board has been out of compliance with its own bylaws and has violated the state open meetings law. The state agency received complaints from parents and teachers about the board’s unwillingness to adhere to term limits called for in the bylaws and to properly hold open meetings that are accessible to all members of the public.
Space was limited to standing-room-only inside the room where the meeting was held. Some parents sat on the floor during the meeting, which lasted more than 90 minutes.
At one point, near the end of the meeting things became heated. Two board members walked out.
Moyer cited substantiating complaints indicating that the board is not acting as a representative of the school community to insure that the needs of all students, parents and teachers will be addressed.
The probation, which lasts through June 30, of next year, requires that the board provide the Office of Charter Schools with information that is normally required by the open meetings law, such as proper notice of regularly scheduled and special called meetings, along with making meeting minutes available.
The board is also required to take steps to implement proper term limits
All of the board’s members have exceeded their maximum of two terms on the board. Each term lasts two years.
Under the school’s bylaws, the board should have no more than one third of its members rotating off at one time. The bylaws also state that a teacher representative selected by the school staff also be a member of the board. The current board does not have a teacher.
In May, Jean Kruft, of the Office of Charter Schools, asked the board to replace all members who were out of compliance with their terms.
During a meeting in June, which was open to parents and teachers, board members voted to change the school’s bylaws to extend their own term limits for another two to four years. It also approved reducing the size of the board from nine to six members, according to the minutes.
Some board members maintained that they extended the limits to retain experienced members while correcting the process of rolling over board members that should have been taking place since the school began in 1999.
Board member O’Linda Gillis said that if the board hadn’t extended the term limits, a completely new board with no understanding of ongoing issues would have to be put in place.
State Denies Changes
In order to make amendments to the school’s bylaws, the board must have its changes approved by the Office of Charter Schools. The office did not approve the board’s request in June.
During that same meeting, the board voted to remove two of its current members to comply with the requirement that a third of the members rotate off, according to treasurer Bonnie McPeake.
Moyer said that since the school’s bylaws require only that a third of the members must rotate off at one time, the board would have to gradually rotate members to become compliant by October.
He recommended that one board member resign and that the three remaining members rotate off. He added that the board should reinstate the two members removed at the June meeting, since their removal was a decision made by a board that was noncompliant with the bylaws.
Moyer said this process would allow the board to maintain three members who have a year left on their terms, while also having one vacant position to fill, along with six other positions that will become available. Board Chairman Fred Walden, who has been on the board since the school’s inception, would rotate off the board in October.
“That would put you compliant by October, and then you can move on,” he said.
McPeake became frustrated during an exchange with Moyer and walked out, saying that she was resigning from her position.
Al Haltiwanger, another board member, walked out of the meeting a few minutes later.
McPeake, along with other board members, told Moyer that the Office of Charter Schools has been an absent source of guidance over the years, saying that they had no idea they were out of compliance until a few months ago.
“Where have you been?” McPeake asked Moyer. “I’ve been on the board seven years. This is the first time I’ve ever seen you.”
She went on to say that neither Moyer, nor the parents surrounding the table, had any idea what issues the board was dealing with internally.
McPeake later said after the meeting that she would not resign after conferring with her fellow board members.
“I’m going to stay on until the job gets done,” she said.
‘Not Abiding By It’
Several parents from S.T.A.R.S. are concerned that the board has not been receptive to the needs of the school’s students.
The school did not make Adequate Yearly Progress for the past school year.
Amy Stonesifer, parent and a former staff member at STARS, said that the board is out of touch with what is going on at the school.
“They don't care who they hurt to win,” Stonesifer said. “It's like a game to them. They have to win the game.”
Stonesifer was one of the parents trying to generate a large turnout at the meeting to show board members that they do not accommodate the public at their meetings.
“We’re trying to show a force so they can see that all the parents were not accommodated,” she said.
Amanda Chipps and her son, Josh Crawford, who will be in seventh grade at STARS this year, attended the meeting. Chipps said she is seriously considering moving her children to another school because of the board’s actions.
“There are bylaws to protect this sort of stuff, and they’re not abiding by it,” she said. “They talk about changes that need to be made, but they’re not willing to step down.”
As the board assesses its options for the next few months, some students and parents said they remain uncertain about the school year ahead of them.
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Comments
LaurieB01 1 year, 10 months ago
Actually, the education is indeed there. Just because the board is making a mess of things doesn't mean that the teachers and students are not doing their job. Those end of grade tests are the joke, and the fact that kids in a totally different type of learning environment have to be subjected to them is ridiculous. The children are learning and learning well. They are just not drilled in EOG test-taking skills the way kids in traditional public schools are. The teachers have more important things to do, like providing a genuine education.
The students at STARS are taught to use their imaginations, to create, to design. They are taught to think, not simply memorize facts. They write plays, they write music, they design sets and then build them. They use practical skills, requiring a knowledge math, science, and English grammar. They learn about history through their classes in the arts, as well as through regular classroom instruction. They incorporate what they have learned into their art, dance, drama, and music.
Yes, the students at Sandhills Renaissance are taught well. It is just a shame that the only grades that matter in this country are those worthless EOG scores. I know quite a few young people from traditional public schools who have passed those with flying colors, yet can't write a complete coherent sentence. Wanna bet that pretty much any 3rd grader at STARS can write a complete and complex sentence? How about a full paragraph? How about in Kindergarten? My granddaughter's (STARS) Kindergarten class was doing that somewhere around March of last year. Not too shabby for a school that's a "joke".
GoldenDreams 1 year, 10 months ago
While everyone is fighting and posturing for position, who will suffer the most? The students! This board needs to get its act together, comply, and communicate with parents and school personnel. Otherwise Moore County will lose its only school whose primary focus is the arts.
tlm026 1 year, 10 months ago
I can agree with Amy 100%. My son was at STARS for 4 years until I removed him. This was the best thing a caring mother could have done for her son that was suffering in so many ways. When I took one situation to the board, the individuals response was that they do not get involved with parent teacher matters. The director even told me that the school was hers and she was going to run it the way she wanted to. So you are right Amy the kids there and their families are ignored and their feelings are not considered when it matters the most!
luvmykids 1 year, 10 months ago
Anyone who judges a school solely on its EOG scores has a very narrow, limited understanding of education. This school has a higher number of kids who are especially creative and think outside the box - kids who are, if I may be so bold, too smart for those limiting and shallow tests. I wonder how many people have ever seen the questions they ask, and how many adults could even pass those tests. And even if they couldn't, what would it matter? How in the world did we ever get to a point that stupid multiple choice tests are the only measuring stick for determining a quality education? The very basis of this school is that there are multiple learning styles. How can one test measure all those styles?
Anyone who saw this school's most recent production of Pivot Pointe, a play written - script and score - by the students themselves, knows that these kids are being educated in a very special place. It was professional quality, a show run by the students who were given responsibilities and asked to do things most adults couldn't possibly pull off. But as a parent, I know it's not "just" about the arts - even though, I might remind people, the arts are what define a culture, not standardized tests. These kids will more than make it not just in high school, but in college and well beyond. They are being given skills that are critical for happy, fulfilled lives.
I couldn't be happier with the quality of teaching for my middle schoolers, the leadership provided by the administration, and the creative atmosphere that makes my kids want to come to school every day. If this board doesn't understand that, it's just another reason for them to go - aside from the fact that the state made it pretty clear today that they have to go for not being in compliance.
luvmykids 1 year, 10 months ago
"During that same meeting, the board voted to remove two of its current members to comply with the requirement that a third of the members rotate off, according to treasurer Bonnie McPeake."
Removing those members did nothing to to comply with the requirement that a third of the members rotate off, because those two members were actually in compliance with the term limits!
LaurieB01 1 year, 10 months ago
This cracks me up when I read that they had no idea that the board was not in compliance. Aren't the terms of compliance written into the Charter?
Some of us spoke with her before the meeting began, and one of the issues addressed was lunches. Why was the couple who has been supplying hot lunches daily for the past 2 years suddenly told they could no longer do so. First, she laid the blame on the Moore Co Health Department, and then when a parent questioned why it had taken 2 full years for this noncompliance issue to come up, she claimed that the board knew nothing about STARS volunteer lunch program. LOL! Every single day for 2 solid years, and they were unaware of it? Completely in the dark? Uh-huh.
I understand being a board member is not an easy job, but if they have all exceeded their term limits, that means a minimum of 4 years on the board for each of them. I believe some of them have been board members since the beginning or close to it. That's 11 years for some members. Wow! A few hours spent at the school once a week, or even once a month, would clue them into anything that wasn't quite right, including the way breakfast and lunch are handled.
I really hope the lunch program can be brought back. But, if it can't, thank you so much to the Georges for such a generous effort for so long.
LaurieB01 1 year, 10 months ago
"that means a minimum of 4 years on the board for each of them" Whoops, what I meant to say is that they have each spent AT LEAST 4 years on the board (which is supposed to be the maximum allowed) - therefore, SOMEONE should have been aware of the lunch arrangements at the school. Just sayin' they all had plenty of experience, somebody should have caught it.
Does that make sense?
nyterain 1 year, 10 months ago
As far as the lunch program, it amazes me that for two years the same couple has been serving the children hot meals daily, yet the board was not aware. I agree with you Laurie that if they were not in compliance with the County regulation on meals why did it take two years for it to be said? How is that even possible, considering the couple received a plaque from the NYL Board and the school for their work and volunteer of the year? How did the board think the children were being fed? This couple devoted their time; energy and love into making sure each one of these children were fed. I wonder if the Board realizes what goes into feeding all these children. I also agree that the meal program should be implemented back into the school as well.
mindy 1 year, 10 months ago
Ok, I was not going to say much of anything on this. But I just have to. Bonnie McPeake was overheard and quoted as saying she had no knowledge of the by-laws or the meal programs. Has anyone googled these people? Several are now or have been on other Boards! This was taken from the Pilot. (You can look it up) “A local hotel owner has been elected chairwoman of the board of directors for the world's largest hotel chain. Best Western International's Board of Directors recently named Pinehurst resident Bonnie McPeake its chairwoman effective for a one-year term. McPeake is the second woman in the brand's history to serve in the role. She replaces David Francis, who remains on the board after serving as chairman since early 2008”. So I think it’s pretty clear she can understand the way a Board runs. I am sure you can do the same with the other members’ names. Why people of their age and reputation would want to bring a wonderful school down is beyond me. The only thing I can think of is ego. That is extremely selfish to take ego over children As for the Meal Program: I was at the Parent Volunteer Breakfast the year before last and I saw a plaque that was presented to The George’s for the Lunch Program. It was from the Staff, PTO and the NYL Board. Also they were presented with a vacation for several days at the Great Wolf Lodge which was also from the Staff, PTO and the NYL Board. I also personally know of one Board member who actually ate at Lunch at the School on more than one occasion. So they were quite aware of the Program and if the County Environmental Health Department was contacted recently I am pretty sure it was from a anonymous phone call (someone from the Board to get the George’s out?) as the program was in good working order for 2 years. When things started happening suddenly the meal program was stopped. I hope someone explains to some of the more financially challenged children why they will not be getting a hot well-balanced meal this year served with a smile and a lot of love. This School and the Staff should be applauded not be abused by the Board. I believe (and many agree with me) that the board should step down as they should have done years ago, while they still have some dignity.