DE Legislators get schoolled by DOE

By Elizabeth Scheinberg

Thanks to all those legislators who've been trying to pump some life into DOE and get Pencader's questions answered before the community shows up at the final hearing. One last question for you: If the hearing is held jointly by DOE and SBOE will there be a rep from the SBOE present?

From: Cruce Daniel [mailto:dcruce@DOE.K12.DE.US]

Sent: Thursday, June 30, 2011 11:00 PM
To: XXXXX
Cc: Lowery Lillian; Carwell John; Hindman John; Peterson Karen; Kowalko John; Schooley Terry; Brady Gerald; Henry Margaret Rose; Johnson Quinton; Sokola David; Osienski Edward; Blevins Patricia; Deluca Anthony; Hall-Long Bethany; Hickey Catherine T.; Haberstroh Susan Keene; Moore Dani; Cruce Daniel

Subject: RE: DOE Charter School Accountability-Or-Lack-Thereof Report
XXXXX-

Below, please find information regarding the upcoming public hearing process:

The public hearing required in a formal review of a charter school is conducted in accordance with internal practices of the Charter School Office of the Department of Education. The public hearing is jointly held by the Department of Education and the State Board of Education. The Hearing Officer is appointed by the Secretary of Education to conduct the hearing and a court reporter is present to make a record of the hearing. The hearing is opened by the Hearing Officer, who states the purpose of the hearing, i.e., to give the school the opportunity to respond to the final report of the Charter School Accountability Committee and to receive public comment; recites the notice that was provided; and recognizes the presence and purpose of the court reporter. The hearing officer advises that the record of the hearing will be provided to the Secretary of Education and the State Board of Education, together with any written or electronic comments received by the Charter School Education Associate at or before the hearing, and then identifies the comments which have been received.

The Hearing Officer reviews the order of procedure for the hearing, noting that first any representatives of the charter school who wish to comment on the Advisory Committee’s final report will be heard, and then comments from anyone else who desires to speak will be taken. The attendees are told there is a signup sheet at the back of the room, and are asked to sign up if they desire to speak. A show of hands of all who wish to speak, to determine if it may be necessary to impose time limits on comments, is requested, after which there is a short off the record break to allow those who wish to sign up to speak the time to do so. The intent is to be as liberal as possible as time and reason allow in accepting comments. However, the Hearing Officer may limit comments that are repetitive or cumulative. If there are a large number of people who wish to speak, each speaker may be limited to 5 or 10 minutes. Thereafter, the school representatives provide their comments, followed by comments from others, and the hearing is closed.

I hope this information is helpful-

Dan

Daniel E. Cruce, Esq.
Deputy Secretary/Chief of Staff
Delaware Department of Education