State of Hawaii
Charter School Review Panel
73-4460 Queen Ka’ahumanu Hwy. #128
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii 96740
Tel: 808-721-8615 Email: csrp.hi@gmail.com
December 5, 2011
To: Charter Schools
From: Charter School Review Panel
RE: Charter Reauthorization
At its meeting on November 10, 2011, the Charter School Review Panel (CSRP) voted unanimously to revise the schedule for the implementation of the reauthorization of charter schools. This was done in response to one of the key recommendations made by the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) in their September 22, 2011 evaluation of the CSRP. Specifically, NACSA recommended: “Delay this year’s reauthorization process until the Panel can develop a performance contract and identify criteria for reauthorization decisions that explicitly aligns with the performance standards outlines in the contract.” In addition, the legislature’s Charter School Governance, Accountability, and Authority Task Force had also discussed the NACSA report and agreed with this recommendation.
Although a revised schedule has not yet been finalized, we are hereby notifying you that the reauthorization review process has been postponed until further notice. We want to express our sincere appreciation to those schools that had been scheduled to be reviewed this year and had worked hard to complete their reauthorization reports. Please know that the Panel will retain your reports for future review, though you may be asked to resubmit them in a different format with updated data. We apologize for the inconvenience we have caused you as we go through this transition period, but we do believe that developing performance contracts with charter schools will strengthen both charter schools and the charter school system as whole.
The Panel has initiated discussion with NACSA regarding obtaining their assistance in the development of performance contracts, and we are hopeful that we will be able to begin this process by the beginning of 2012. We fully intend to keep you informed and involved in this important effort.
Mahalo for your patience and understanding.
Carl Takamura
Chair, Charter School Review Panel
cc: CSRP, BOE, DOE, CSAO, HCSN, Senator Jill Tokuda, Rep. Della Belatti, Tammi Chun, NACSA