Legacy Academy presents growth data as district explains rubric-driven three-year renewal recommendation

Legacy Academy’s executive director, Dr. Forte, presented supplemental performance data to the Committee of the Whole as the charter sought a longer renewal term than the district’s recommendation.

Dr. Forte said Legacy, a K–8 charter, met or exceeded renewal requirements in ELA, math and science in zip-code comparisons and reported strong year‑over‑year growth figures (for example, she cited 58% growth in ELA and 56% growth in math on measures used in the site visit). She asked the board to consider a renewal period longer than the three‑year recommendation under discussion.

District counsel (Attorney Goldmith) and administration representatives explained that renewal recommendations are derived from a rubric/matrix contained in the charter agreement and that the matrix metrics used for scoring were provided during the prior renewal cycle. Administration staff noted that this renewal cycle included a site visit process conducted by an external reviewer (SchoolWorks) and that one metric—proficiency percentage compared to district/state benchmarks—was treated according to the rubric’s weighting, which led to a final combined score that supported a recommendation of up to three years.

Dr. Forte and board members expressed interest in reconciling perceived discrepancies between the data sets presented by Legacy and the matrix outputs used by the district. Miss Pearson asked for a meeting between Legacy and district staff to clarify the sources and calculations; administration said the Illinois Report Card data were used for many rubric metrics and agreed to meet.

What happens next: administration and Legacy agreed to a follow-up meeting to review data sources and calculations prior to the board’s vote; no formal reauthorization vote occurred during the committee meeting.