Pub. 3 2013-2014 Issue 2

6 BOARD Message A Powerful Voice in Utah Education It has been my pleasure to serve for the last two years on the Board of Directors of UAPCS. It has been exciting to see the amount of work and dedication the Board and staff of the Association put in on behalf of the member schools and the charter movement in general. Countless legislative committee meetings, meet- ings with Legislators, State Board of Education and Charter Board meetings, fiscal meetings, rule and policy meetings, and general discussions with the vari- ous departments within USOE that effect charter schools. These are meetings and discussions all of us would want to, and need to, attend so the interests of charter schools are heard and protected. The reality of working within a char- ter school precludes us from being to every meeting and discussion. I am pleased to say that UAPCS does a fantastic job of advocating on behalf of all charter schools as well as representing specific needs of the members of UAPCS. Issues that come up within USOE and the legislature are competently and professionally represented from a charter school perspective by the As- sociation. UAPCS also initiates legislation and policy discussions that help change the environment of the charter world. A couple of resent examples that come to mind are the credit enhancement bill, the recent chartering revisions, the new charter school construction policy and procedures, and my favorite, the changes in charter school special education funding policies (I am from Spectrum Academy after all!). These changes, as well as countless others are a result of member charter schools coming together, pooling resources, and hav- ing a significant and powerful voice in education in the State of Utah. It’s a wonderful thing to see and I never had a true perspective of it until I joined the Board. Thank you to the staff of UAPCS, thank you to my fellow Board members, and especially thank you to the member schools that provide support and input to make this effort a success. Brad Nelson Board Chair, UAPCS UTAH ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS BOARD OF DIRECTORS: BRAD NELSON (BOARD CHAIR) GERRY HASSELL (TREASURER) PEGGY DOWNS (SECRETARY) JESSIE KIDD SONIA WOODBURY STACEY HUTCHINGS STAFF CONTACT INFO: CHRIS BLEAK President 801-680-8141 chrisrbleak@utahcharters.org TINA SMITH Director of Operations 801-558-7246 tina@utahcharters.org DEBBY LLEWELYN Director of Training 801-318-0911 debby@utahcharters.org TWITTER: @UTAHCHARTERS FACEBOOK: FACEBOOK.COM/UAPCS WWW.UTAHCHARTERS.ORG