NOTICES & POLICIES
Board Policies & Meeting Minutes
To view Board Policies, please click the BoardDocs button and then select Policies in the upper righthand corner.
Comprehensive Plan
Agora Cyber Charter School is pleased to present our proposed 2022-2025 comprehensive plan, including our 2022-2023 school improvement goals and action items. This plan will be available for public review until June 22, 2025. Should you have questions, need translation or wish to comment on the plan, please contact Chief Academic Officer, Dr Anne Butler at abutler@agora.org.
Title I
Agora Cyber Charter School operates a schoolwide Title I program.
Schools with a specified percentage of students who meet certain income guidelines are designated as schoolwide programs. Schoolwide programs can combine Title I funds with other federal, state and local funds to improve school programs. As the parent/guardian of a child attending a Title I school, you are an important part of the Title I team. Your input is vital in the planning and implementation of the parent and family engagement program.
WHAT IS TITLE I?
- “Title I” is short for Title I, Part A (Title I) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).
- The new law (ESSA) focuses on the clear goal of fully preparing all students for success in college and careers.
- Title I is the largest federally funded program for elementary, middle and high schools.
RIGHT TO KNOW
Under ESSA Right to Know, parents have the right to request the professional qualifications of their child’s teacher(s) and/or paraprofessional(s). Each year, a letter is sent to Agora families to inform them of their right to ask for additional information about their child’s classroom teachers and/or paraprofessionals. To request this form in an alternate language, or if you want to become involved or have additional questions, please contact Alina Kitchell, federal programs coordinator, at 610-230-2222 or akitchell@agora.org.
School Improvement Plan
The School Improvement Plan (SIP) is Agora’s “road map” for school improvement. Our SIP is approved each year by Agora’s board of trustees.
The McKinney Vento Act
The McKinney Vento Act is designed to ensure children who are homeless are provided with a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) on an equal basis with all other children in the state.
Program objectives and activities are intended to remove or ease the barriers to enrollment and educational success for these children. Homeless youth are entitled to immediate enrollments and their families are not required to prove residency regarding school district enrollment. Agora Cyber Charter School will enroll these students without delay.
QUESTIONS?
If you have questions about the McKinney-Vento Act email Alina Kitchell at akitchell@agora.org.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
- Education for Homeless Children and Youth Policy [PDF]
- Privacy and Homelessness—FERPA 2016 [PDF]
- FAQs on Education Rights of Children and Youth in Homeless Situations—McKinney Vento FAQs [PDF]
- Non-Regulatory Guidance: Ensuring Educational Stability for Children in Foster Care—ESSA Q & A [PDF]
- Grievance Procedures—Dispute Resolution Policy [PDF]
- Shelter Directory
AGORA’S RESPONSIBILITIES
- Identify homeless children and youth with assistance from school personnel and by coordination activities with other entities and agencies.
- Inform parents or guardians of educational rights and related opportunities available to their children, including Head Start programs (including Early Head Start programs), early intervention services under Part C of the IDEA, other preschool programs administered by the LEA, and provide them with meaningful opportunities to participate in the education of their children.
- Mediate enrollment disputes in accordance with the Enrollment Dispute section.
- Inform the parent or guardian of a homeless child, youth and any unaccompanied youth, of all transportation options to required testing if transportation costs are an issue to identified McKinney-Vento students.
- Ensure that unaccompanied youth are immediately enrolled in school pending resolution of disputes that might arise over school enrollment or placement.
- Assist children and youth who do not have documentation of immunizations or medical records to obtain necessary immunizations or necessary medical documentation.
- Understand the guidance issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) for the education of homeless students and be ready to explain the BEC (Basic Education Circular) related to homeless education to school district staff.
- Get to know the best resources in their community to assist families with referrals for things such as shelter, counseling, food and transportation.
- Distribute information on the subject of homeless students and arrange staff development workshops and presentations for school personnel, including office staff.
- Become familiar with the various program materials that are available from PDE.
- Ensure that homeless youth who have or may have disabilities have a parent or a surrogate parent to make special education or early intervention decisions. In the case of unaccompanied homeless youth, if a student is disabled or may be disabled and the youth does not have a person authorized to make special education decisions, the School will work with the following people as temporary surrogate parents: staff in emergency shelters; transitional shelters; independent living programs; street outreach programs; and state, local educational agency or child welfare agency staff involved in the education or care of the child. This rule applies only to unaccompanied homeless youth.
- Identify preschool-aged homeless children by working closely with shelters and social service agencies in their area. In addition, the liaison should inquire, at the time they are enrolling homeless children and youth in school, whether the family has preschool-aged children.
- Identify unaccompanied homeless youth while respecting their privacy and dignity by providing specific outreach to areas where eligible students who are out of school may congregate.
- Ensure that unaccompanied youth have opportunities to meet the same challenging state academic standards as the state establishes for other children and youth.
Agora's Threat Assessment Team
Pennsylvania statute requires that school entities are to establish threat assessment teams, procedures, and reporting protocols. The threat assessment process is a prevention strategy used to identify and assess threats of violence before the act occurs. This year our school will be using a standard procedure for responding to student threats of violence called “threat assessment.” Our threat assessment guidelines were developed and extensively tested and have been adopted by thousands of schools across the country. The basic idea is that when a student communicates a threat to harm someone, the threat assessment team will do an assessment to determine how serious the threat is and what can be done to prevent the threat from being carried out. Research has shown that the vast majority of threats can be resolved safely and without drastic consequences such as school expulsion. In most cases, threats are a sign that a student is frustrated, angry, and in need of help resolving a problem. A goal of threat assessment is to address this underlying problem.
Organizational Charts
- Academic Office Org. Chart 9.24.21
- Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment Department 9.24.21
- Facilities & Logistics Dept. Org. Chart 9.24.21
- Finance Dept. Org. Chart 9.24.21
- General Ed. Dept. Org. Chart 9.24.21
- Human Resources Dept. Org. Chart 9.24.21
- Special Ed. Dept. Org. Chart 9.24.21
- Student Services Org. Chart 9.24.21
- Technology Dept. Org. Chart 9.24.21
Right To Know
Open Record Requests
Right-to-Know requests may be sent to the attention of James Donovan, Director of Finance, via email at jdonovan@agora.org, or by mailing a request to our offices at 1018 W. 8th Ave., King of Prussia, PA 19406.
