OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR - WEB MAIL CORRESPONDENCE, Correspondence'D: IP Adress: Incoming Type —_— mm } Date Submitted: 672772009 §:2409PM 114 London Way Ema: Coppell Phone: (G1) 7383101 1% 75019 Message: Dear Governor Py “This comespondence a formal request fr fll investigation no the Texas Education Agency (TEA)'s November, 2008, srprovel of Manara Academy Chater School This equest fo afl investigation i based on information tha surfaced uring Hiv public hearing of the City of Copel Planing and Zoning Commision and Coppell City Coun a equed for 8 Certificate of Occupancy toe issued inorder forthe school ooseupy Christ Our Sevior Lutheran Church in Copel, Texas. “The following items are exarpls of ieguarts that were identified doing the recent municipal public hearing proces: 1 onoe Academy's Chater application was based entirely on Irving ISD satis end on the assumption thatthe Charter School woul be located i ving, Texas. After Maare selected & Coppell sit, they never conducted TEA required public arig inthe City of Coppell The one and only TEA publi hearing tht was noticed and conducted by Marara was at Mastang Recreation Centr in ving, Texas 2 Mlle school des were ot inched in he Statement of Impact Analysis of Manas's carer aplication intoding the Plone ISD, Ft Worth ISD, Flower Mound ISD end the Grand Prairie ISD. Mane schoo ffs hav since dined that ftudents fom thse discs wil tend their Fait binning in September 200. se the requed Statement of Impact notification ofthe independent schoo districts affected by the Manara Academy charter “fd nat nla slficien information for those schoo! officials to make an informed and accurste decision regarding the potenti pat on stent populations in their district rte pact naieatin lets sett identified school des (within the geographic location) indicted the Charter schoot Tingle in ving, Texas, ot Copel, Texas, No dated Statement of impact was provided afer the change of action to Cone Tens, therefore, the affected oficial responded to information that was les inaccurately and falsely provided them by Manara Academy. Given these recent findings a thorough investigation of regularities into the application process including questionable Ghent publicly made by Manara School officiel, all disclosure of rings and ations tobe taken by TEA i warranted ‘Should you have any need o contact me fr additonal information, may be eached athe adress sted above ar by phone at 1 appreciate your station to this mati Regards, Wes Mays Coppel, Teas 6728108OrFice OF THE GOVERNOR ick Perry Govemor July 1, 2009 Mr Wes sis Dear Mr. Mays: “Thank you for taking the time to contact the Office of the Governor. am asking Commissioner of Education Robert Scott for his staff's assistance in reviewing and responding both to you and this office on the information shared. Please let us know whenever we may be of service in the future. Sincerely, Dede Keith Constituent Communication Division Office of the Governor DK:bn poo. box 12428 Avavin, Texas 7ATI1 $12-66362000 (VOrCR)DIAL TTT FoR RELAY SeaviCEs SaTF EER CTEEALOELIRELSM THe OVTVCTAL Wee SITE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS»\ TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY 1701 Noeth Congress Ave. Austin, Texan THTOI- 1494 # 51263-9734 FAX: ST2I463.9R38 a hupufor este te Robert Scott Commissioner July 22, 2009 Mr. Wes Mays 114 London Way Coppell, Texas 75019 Dear Mr. Mays: Your June 27, 2008 letter to the Office of the Governor has been referred to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) for response. | appreciate your taking the time to express your concems regarding Manara Academy. Your complaint requests an investigation into the November 2008 approval of Manara Academy to operate effective in the 2009-2010 school year. Although the TEA does not hold the authority to issue charter approvals, this charter was approved by the State Board of Education (SBOE) on November 21, 2008, Your letter states that the original charter school application submitted by Manara Academy was based on the assumption that the school would be located in Irving, Texas, and tha, after Manara selected a Coppell ste, they never conducted a public hearing in the cty ot Coppell. Your complaint further states thatthe following schoo! districts were not included in the statement of impact analysis section of Manara Academy's charter application: Plano ISD, Fort Worth ISD, Flower Mound ISD and Grand Prairie ISD, and thatthe required statement of impact notification ofthe independent school districts affected by the charter did not include sufficient information for those schoo! officials to make Informed and accurate decisions regarding the potential impact on student populations in their district. For the sake of clarity in this response, the majority of the town of Flower Mound, Texas is served by Lewisville ISD, as there is not a Flower Mound ISD. Lewisville ISD is an approved district within ‘Manara Academy's geographic boundary. The remaining students residing in Flower Mound are served by Argyle ISD, Denton ISD, and Northwest ISD. Argyle ISD schools, Denton ISD, and Northwest ISD are not within Manara's geographic boundary ‘Although sections ofthe original charter school application discussed the need for a charter schoo! in Irving, it also clearly stated that the site of the schaol had not been determined at the time the application was submitted to TEA. itis not unusual for a new charter school to change from the location initaly indicated in ts application toa diferent location contained within its geographic boundary. Students from Irving remain eligible to attend the schoo! in Coppel. In your letter, you also indicated concerns that the charter had not conducted a public hearing in the city of Coppell, but this is not required, as the Open-Enrollment Charter Guidelines and Application, Fourteenth Generation, states on page 26: ‘The applicant must hold a public hearing in the proposed charter school's geographic area to publicly discuss the application for the charter school. This hearing must take place no earlior than 18 months bofore the charter application due date. Any person may be present at and participate in the meeting. The applicant shall publish a notice of the meeting in a newspaper ‘of general distribution in the geographic area proposed for the school. “There was not a requirement for the public hearing to be held in the city where the schoo! will be located.