June 17, 2015 MEMORANDUM To: From: Subject: Members of the Board of Trustees Susan Miller Barker, Executive Director, SUNY Charter Schools Institute SUNY Charter Schools Institute Update Charter Revisions and Extensions Approved by the Institute Pursuant to Resolution No. 2012-038 dated June 12, 2012, the Board of Trustees delegated authority to the SUNY Charter Schools Institute (the Institute ) to approve certain revisions and extensions to the charters of charter schools authorized by the Board of Trustees. Extensions Broome Street Academy Charter High School, located at 121 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10013, in Community School District ( CSD ) 2, currently serving approximately 325 students in grades 9-12, seeks an extension of its charter from October 18, 2015 through July 31, 2016 to offset planning time taken and finish the remainder of the school year prior to renewal. The school would serve 325 students in grades 9-12 for the 2015-16 school year. Heketi Community Charter School, located at 403 Concord Avenue, Bronx, NY 10454, in CSD 7, currently serving approximately 172 students in grades K-3, seeks an extension of its charter from December 13, 2015 through July 31, 2017 to offset planning time taken and finish the remainder of the school year prior to renewal. The school would serve 208 students in grades K-4 for the 2015-16 school year and 240 students in grade K-5 for the 2016-17 school year. Revisions Canarsie Ascend Charter School, located at 9719 Flatlands Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11212, in CSD 18, currently serving approximately 249 students in grades K-2; and, Central Brooklyn Ascend Charter School, located at 1501 Pitkin Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11212 in CSD 14, currently serving approximately 208 students in grades K-1, both request to change the schools curriculum from the Page 1 of 5
SABIS curriculum to the Ascend Common Core Curriculum to allow further alignment to the Common Core standards. Family Life Academy Charter School, the education corporation that operates the following schools: Family Life Academy Charter School II, located at 296 East 140 th Street, Bronx, NY 10454, in CSD 7, currently serving approximately 200 students in grades K-3; and, Family Life Academy Charter School III, located at 296 East 140 th Street, Bronx, NY 10454, in CSD 7, currently serving approximately 100 students in grade K-1, requests to expand the grades offered by the abovenamed schools in the next term of authority to operate each school from K-5 to K-8. SUNY agrees to accept such grade expansion by currently amending each school s charter regarding the terms of each school s renewal application such that the expansion will be contingent upon each school: 1) providing a renewal application with the grade expansion; 2) qualifying for at least a short-term renewal pursuant to the SUNY Renewal Policies; and, 3) being in good standing at such time. Harlem Preparatory Charter School, located at 240 East 123 rd Street, NY, NY 10035 and 410 East 100 th Street, NY, NY 10029 in CSD 4, currently serving approximately 702 students in grades K-8, requests to participate in the Pathways Program with Democracy Prep Charter School (authorized by the New York City Department of Education ( NYCDOE ), Democracy Prep Harlem Charter School (authorized by the NYCDOE) and Democracy Prep Endurance Charter School (authorized by the NYCDOE). The Pathways Program offers programming and services to students with disabilities with the greatest academic needs through a cooperative arrangement between the charter schools and Democracy Prep Public Schools Inc. ROADS Charter School I, located at 1495 Herkimer Street, Brooklyn, NY 11233, in CSD 23, currently serving approximately 200 students in grade 9-11; and, ROADS Charter School II, located at 1010 Reverend James A. Polite Avenue, Bronx, NY 10459, in CSD 12, currently serving approximately 200 students in grade 9-11, both request to refine and provide additional goals to each school s Accountability Plan. Boys Preparatory Charter School of New York At the March 6, 2015 Committee meeting, the Committee approved the extension of Public Prep Charter School Academies authority to operate Boys Preparatory Charter School of New York through July 31, 2019 as the school had taken four planning years. The resolution reflected the following enrollment configuration: 2015/16 207 students in Kindergarten 2 nd grade; 2016/17 282 students in Kindergarten 3 rd grade; 2017/18 357 students in Kindergarten 4 th grade; and, 2018/19 432 students in Kindergarten 5 th grade; After the resolution was drafted and sent to the Committee, the school submitted the following enrollment configuration: 2015/16 220 students in Kindergarten 2 nd grade; 2016/17 300 students in Kindergarten 3 rd grade; Page 2 of 5
2017/18 375 students in Kindergarten 4 th grade; and, 2018/19 450 students in Kindergarten 5 th grade. As the Institute has authority to make certain revisions including enrollment revisions, the Institute modified the enrollment chart sent to the New York State Board of Trustees with the Committee resolution to reflect the updated enrollment. Updates 2014-15 Charter Schools Stimulus Fund Grant Projects On February 3, 2015, the Committee awarded 19 SSF grants totaling approximately $3.6 million (including rollovers from previous year). To date $938,045 has been paid to grant recipients and invoices come in on a daily basis to spend down the remaining grant awards. 2015-16 Charter School Stimulus Fund Grant The Institute is preparing for the next issuance of the Request for Proposal ( RFP ) for New York State Charter Schools Stimulus Fund ( SSF ) Grants. The Institute is designing the RFP to support facility projects in private space or publicly leased space where the charter school pays rent. Schools will be able to qualify for bonus points for performing arts programs/projects as well as for high student performance outcomes. The enacted 2015-16 state budget includes approximately $3.1 million in available SSF grant funds. We expect to issue the RFP earlier (in July), and the grant application review and award process to be completed in the fall of 2015. This should allow applicants additional time to expend funds to be reimbursed by grants. Preview of the 2015-16 New Schools In the fall of 2015, the Institute will oversee the opening of five schools. In the Committee materials, please find a list of schools expected to open. The Institute will perform an analysis of Prior Actions including a pre-opening visit with the Director of Charter Accountability before the beginning of the school year, and a first year visit with the Institute s school evaluation team sometime during the school year. The analysis of Prior Actions is required by the Charter Agreement and allows the Institute to determine if the schools are able to open their doors on the first day of school and provide instruction to students. The first year visit is part of the Institute s evaluation of the academic and organizational aspects of the school s program using the State University of New York Charter Renewal Benchmarks (included with the Committee renewal materials). For formal school evaluation visits conducted prior to renewal, the Institute focuses on specific qualitative benchmarks that provide a fixed standard for determining the quality of the academic program as the school progresses toward renewal. For the first year visit, the Institute narrows the expectation for each benchmark in recognition of the school program s limited development. The center of attention is on the quality of instruction and related benchmarks, which heavily affect the progress that a school is able to demonstrate in meeting its Accountability Plan goals during the charter term. Over-Age Under-Credited Working Group On June 3 rd, members of the Institute s school evaluation and accountability staff convened a meeting with staff members from the ROADS network, ROADS Charter School 1 ( ROADS 1 ), ROADS Charter School 2 ( ROADS 2 ), and Broome St. Academy Charter High School ( Broome Page 3 of 5
Street ). The goal of this meeting was to identify any additional data and information that the three schools would consider including in their respective applications for charter renewal given the special mission and vision identified by the schools: to serve over-aged, under-credited, adjudicated and systems-involved youth. These unique programs serve a student population whose educational experiences have not prepared them for success in a more traditional high school setting and thus the Institute recognizes that the accountability goals and measures set forth for high school programs would not accurately measure the successes of these schools. During the meeting, participants from the schools mapped the elements of their educational and social emotional learning programs, identifying key data elements for collection and reporting. The Institute s staff members gathered information from the participants that it will use to continue its development of an accountability framework for alternative high school programs. Broome Street is up for its first full renewal by the end of the 2015-2016 school year. ROADS 1 and ROADS 2 are both up for renewal the following year. Enrollment and Retention Targets In an effort to meet state enrollment and retention targets for English language learners ( ELLs ), Success Academy sought to use an enrollment set-aside where a certain percentage of the incoming class would be reserved for ELLs. Because many Success schools receive federal Charter School Program (CSP) grants, the U.S. Department of Education ( USDOE ) needed to approve the enrollment set-aside, which is legal under New York Law. Based on non-regulatory guidance, the USDOE refused to allow the ELL set-aside. According to the New York State Department of Education, the USDOE will permit at-risk students, such as ELLs, to be given one more chance in the lottery under certain conditions. The Institute will pass along that information to SUNY authorized schools when the details are fully known. Closure Updates Brighter Choice Charter Middle School for Boys, located at 116 North Lake Ave, Albany, NY and Brighter Choice Charter Middle School for Girls, located at 395 Elk St, Albany, NY, both in the Albany City School District, will be closing at the end the 2014-15 school year after the SUNY Trustees voted not to renew either school s charter on March 6, 2015. The last day of classes was June 24, 2015, a few days shorter than the original schedule. The Institute has worked with the schools leadership, boards of trustees and counsel as the school works through its closure plan. The schools and the Albany City School District have met with families to discuss enrollment options for the 2015-16 school year. The Albany City School District has not yet announced where students will have to report for school in the fall. One option is for the Albany City School District to rent the Brighter Choice school buildings. The Institute will continue to assist and monitor wind down activities. Innovate Manhattan Charter School, located at 38 Delancey Street, 3 rd Floor, New York, New York in CSD 2 enrolled approximately 198 students in grades 6-8. In the fourth year of its initial charter term, it decided to close at the end of the 2014-15 school year. The last day of classes was June 24, 2015. The school s board of trustees and administration worked collaboratively with the Institute to close in the most efficient and effective manner, fully informing parents and ensuring students knew their school choice options for the 2015-16 school year. Several meetings and open houses for families were held with representatives of the Institute, the New York City Charter School Center Page 4 of 5
and the NYCDOE to discuss enrollment options and procedures with families. Another charter school will be using the space as of July 1, 2015. The Institute will continue to assist and monitor wind down activities and notes the active support to the school, its parents and students provided by the NYCDOE. Page 5 of 5