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N.C. Alliance for Public Charter Schools holds series of successful regional meetings throughout state
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Last week the N.C. Alliance for Public Charter Schools held six successful regional meetings over the course of three days at locations throughout the state. The regional meetings, which attracted approximately 100 people representing both existing public charter schools and prospective new charter schools, came on the heels of the Alliance’s announcement that it has moved toward a decentralized, regional structure.
"Our first round of regional meetings was a tremendous success," says Gail Taylor, vice chair of the Alliance and principal of Carter Community School in Durham. "Attendees had the opportunity to network, hear about the challenges other schools have faced and learn how they have met those challenges. Our new regional approach is already paying dividends, and we look forward to working with our member schools to strengthen the public charter school community throughout North Carolina."
The regional meetings were held at the following locations:
- Eastern North Carolina Region: Charter Day School in Leland;
- Piedmont Triad Region: Greensboro Academy;
- Triangle Area Region: East Wake Academy in Zebulon;
- Western North Carolina Region: Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy in Mooresboro;
- Charlotte Metro Region: Union Academy in Monroe; and
- Raleigh-Durham Urban Region: Carter Community School in Durham.
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On Monday several Alliance representatives visited the Concord Convention Center, which is the site of the third annual charter school conference. The conference will be held July 22-24, and more details will be forthcoming shortly.
 Pictured left to right: Alliance conference chair Todd Havican; Dana Reason, event planner with Pioneer Strategies; Frank Williams, president of Pioneer Strategies; Alliance board chair Paul Norcross.
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Letter from Dave Faunce of Acadia Northstar regarding proposed IRS regulations that impact public charter school
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Good Afternoon Paul,
I know that a number of the members of your organization are uneasy about the new proposed IRS Regulations regarding inclusion (or exclusion) of charter schools as political subdivisions of the State of North Carolina, specifically as it relates to them participating in the State Retirement Plan. I have been steadily researching this issue and communicating with those in Washington and Raleigh as a means of helping our client schools better understand the intent of the proposed regulation. Maybe you could pass this on to your members in order to ease their concern.
I had an opportunity to speak extensively with Pamela Kinard with the Office of Counsel of the IRS regarding this matter. Pamela was directly involved in drafting proposed Reg 157714-06. Ms. Kinard conveyed that the purpose of the new regulation is to expand the current definition of political subdivisions and make it less stringent than the existing regulations governing the same. According to Ms. Kinard, under the current regulations, many traditional public schools in some states would not qualify as participants in a governmental plan. She noted that the new, expanded tests were setup to eliminate an "all-or-nothing" determination and that the new regulation enables one or a combination of more than one test to apply in making an argument that an organization is, in fact, a political subdivision of a state government and, therefore, qualified to participate in a governmental plan under IRC Section 414(d).
While public feedback and comment is an important part of this process (and I certainly encourage those with concerns to make them known through the comment process), it did not at all appear that this proposed regulation is intended to be narrowly interpreted to preclude charter schools from governmental plans. I have also spoken with a source within the State Retirement System who asked to remain anonymous for the sake of this communication. They indicated that there is no inclination whatsoever to construe the new regulation as a means of excluding charter school teachers from the State Retirement Plan.
Best Regards,
David M. Rutter Faunce, Senior Partner
Acadia NorthStar, LLC Tel: 828-395-6756
Fax: 828-287-9800
Cell: 828-429-1469
dave@acadianorthstar.com
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| Alliance holding statewide meeting in March |
Based on the feedback received from attendees at our recent regional meetings, the Alliance will hold a statewide meeting in Guilford County in March. More details on this meeting will be forthcoming in the very near future.
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| Charter Schools in the News! |
 Kindergarten students at Carter Community School hosting the K-3 Science Fair. Carter Community was featured in an article about the Regional Meetings here.
Tiller School first grade students, from left, Rachel White and Maggie Pigott, show their catch after trawling recently
aboard a Duke Marine Lab research vessel.
 The Roger Bacon Academy cheer squad gets ovations by both the NC House of Representatives and the Senate. See complete story here. |
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| Thank you to our Regional Meeting Sponsors! |
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