Meeting of the Board of Regents | June 2007

THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK / ALBANY, NY 12234

 

TO:
FROM:	Johanna Duncan-Poitier
SUBJECT:	Charter Schools: Renewal Charter
DATE:	June 13, 2007
STRATEGIC GOAL:	Goals 1 and 2
AUTHORIZATION(S):

 

SUMMARY

 

Issue for Action

 

Should the Regents approve the staff’s recommendation regarding the proposed renewal of the charter from the Trustees of the State University of New York (“SUNY”) for the International Charter School of Schenectady (Rotterdam-Mohonasen)?

 

Reason(s) for Consideration

 

              Required by New York State Education Law §2852.

 

Proposed Handling

 

This question will come before the Regents EMSC-VESID Committee for action at its June meeting. 

 

Procedural History

 

              The New York Charter Schools Act of 1998 requires the Board of Regents to review proposed charters and renewal charters that are submitted to it from other charter entities in accordance with the standards set forth in subdivision two of New York State Education Law Section 2852.  After review, the Board of Regents may either (a) approve and issue the charter or renewal charter as proposed by the charter entity, or (b) return the proposed charter or renewal charter to the charter entity for reconsideration with the written comments and recommendations of the Board of Regents.

 

Background Information

 

              We received a proposed second renewal charter from the Trustees of the State University of New York for the International Charter School of Schenectady (Rotterdam-Mohonasen).

 

              InternationalCharter School of Schenectady:   The International Charter School of Schenectady is located in Schenectady County within the Rotterdam-Mohonasen Central School District.  The School employed SABIS Educational Systems, Inc. as its management partner until March 2007. 

 

The Regents approved the School’s initial charter on April 4, 2000.  Facility-related setbacks delayed the School’s opening for two years. In September 2002, the School opened in a facility located within the Schenectady City School District serving 267 students in Kindergarten through grade 4. The School currently serves 693 (maximum 724) students in Kindergarten through grade 8.

 

In March 2005, the Regents voted to return the proposed second renewal charter of the International Charter School of Schenectady received from SUNY based on concerns about the projected increase in enrollment and the inadequacy of space in its present facility, and the lack of data to demonstrate academic success.  SUNY resubmitted a revised proposed renewal charter identifying another facility to a site within the Rotterdam-Mohonasen CSD, which is contiguous to the Schenectady CSD and within a few blocks of the previous site. The new (now present) site allowed the School to accommodate its projected enrollment increases and to expand to its current enrollment of 693 students in Kindergarten through grade 8. The Board of Regents issued the charter renewal which extended the School’s charter for two years. 

 

In early March 2007, the School’s Board of Trustees voted to terminate its contract with SABIS effective at the end of the 2006-2007 school year.  On March 19, 2007, SABIS submitted a proposed second renewal charter on behalf of the School to SUNY.  On March 20, 2007, concerns about the academic program and the lack of sufficient assessment data led SUNY to approve a short-term renewal charter of the School through July 31, 2008.  

 

On March 22, 2007, the Department received the proposed second renewal charter from SUNY.  The proposed second renewal charter, however, identified SABIS as the School’s educational management company and reflected no substantive change in the School’s governance, educational program, or school policies (i.e., student discipline) during the proposed one-year renewal period, even though SABIS and the School had already terminated their relationship. Department staff determined that the renewal application, as submitted by SUNY, did not reflect the School as it currently existed.  As a result, you voted at your May 2007 meeting to return the proposed renewal charter to SUNY for reconsideration and revision.

 

              SUNY re-submitted the proposed second renewal charter on June 5, 2007, with modifications that address the concerns raised by the Regents.    

 

Complete copies of the above are available for your review by contacting James C. Viola at 518-474-4817.

 

Recommendation

 

              Staff recommend that the Board of Regents take the following action:

 

VOTED: That the Board of Regents approve and issue the second renewal charter  of the International Charter School of Schenectady as proposed by the Trustees of the State University of New York nuncpro tunc to April 4, 2007, and that its provisional charter be extended for a term ending on July 31, 2008.

 

Timetable for Implementation

 

The Regents action for the International Charter School of Schenectady will become effective immediately.

 New York State Education Department

 

Summary of Charter School Renewal Information

 

Summary of Applicant Information

 

 

 

Address:  901 Draper Avenue, Rotterdam, NY 12306

 

Board of Trustees President:  Doris L. Belton

 

Renewal Period:  April 4, 2007-July 31, 2008

 

District of Location:  Rotterdam-Mohonasen CSD

 

Charter Entity:  SUNY Board of Trustees

 

Institutional Partner(s): None

 

Management Partner(s):  None

 

Grades Served Per Year:   K-8

 

Projected Enrollment Per Year:  693

 

 

Renewal Application Highlights

Evidence of Educational Soundness/Attainment of Educational Objectives

• The School has demonstrated mixed results in both English language arts (ELA) and mathematics.  The School has generally posted solid results on the New York State Testing Program (NYSTP) assessment in mathematics including meeting for the most part the required level of student proficiency; its ELA results have generally been below standard.
• From a different perspective, after registering overall strong ELA and mathematics results in 2004-05, the third year of the charter, the School’s results were notably lower in the fourth year.
• The School came close to meeting the ELA and mathematics goals contained in its Accountability Plan in 2004-2005.
• In 2005-06, the School did not meet either of these key subject goals. 
• The School has generally met its science goal.
• The School has not met its social studies goal, but is making progress toward meeting it. 
• The School is deemed to be in good standing according to the State’s NCLB accountability system.
• The School has experienced a great deal of teacher turnover with nearly half of its teachers employed in the school for less than a year.  The teachers have not yet fully employed or embraced the SABIS model.
• The School has not used student data to modify instruction and improve student achievement.
• The School has had a change in school leadership within the last year.
• The School has terminated its relationship with SABIS.  It will no longer use a management company.

Evidence of Fiscal Soundness/Projected Fiscal Impact

• The School completed the 2005-06 school year in stable financial condition and has generally been stable through its existence.
• The School has a manageable long-term debt related to the purchase and renovation of its facility and has generated sufficient cash to fund ongoing operations.
• The School has established appropriate controls and procedures.  Although the School’s prior year audit reports have identified three reportable conditions related to deficiencies in the design and operation of its internal control over financial reporting, the School has taken corrective actions in a timely manner to remedy each deficiency. 
• The School has not been cited for any material weaknesses in internal control nor has it been cited for non-compliance.
• The School has successfully operated in a fiscally sound manner as it has grown to its current grade configuration and is likely to continue to do so assuming continued enrollment demand.
• The School has presented a reasonable and appropriate fiscal plan for the proposed new charter period.
• Students have returned to the School at a high rate from year to year which should help the School reach its enrollment goals.  However, the School’s waiting list has been small.

 

Potential Fiscal Impact of the Renewal Charter for the

International
Charter School of Schenectady

Based on Students Enrolled Who Reside Within

The Schenectady City School District

School Year	Students	Projected Payment	Projected Impact
2004-05	450*	$3,717,900	3.64%
2005-06	566*	$4,912,880	4.46%
2006-07	685**	$6,241,720	5.07%
2007-08	740**	$7,096,600	5.07%

* Actual number of enrolled students who reside within the Schenectady CSD as reported in the School’s Annual Report.

**Projected number of enrolled students who reside within the Schenectady CSD.

Evidence of Parent and Student Satisfaction and Community Support

• Parents have positive attitudes about the School, especially appreciating the safe environment, the attention paid to each child’s academic performance, and the college prep orientation.
• Parents indicated the School offered a strong educational program in a disciplined, safe school.
• Parents believed their children were making gains academically and that discipline was fair and tough, although they acknowledge that there are students who repeatedly get in trouble and that the upper grades do have discipline problems.
• Parents do not feel they know the “SABIS” model.
• Parents representing only 56 percent of the students responded to the survey, suggesting that the degree of satisfaction may not be as positive among the entire parent population.
• However, the retention rate from the previous June is reported to have been 96 percent in September 2006, up from 87 percent in September 2005 (excluding students who moved and for special education placements). 
• A letter dated January 8, 2007 from the Superintendent of the Schenectady City School district recommends that SUNY not renew the charter for the International Charter School of Schenectady.  The Superintendent cites several reasons:  poor performance by the students in the charter school, one of the largest in the State, while enrolling a “dramatically” lower percentage of students with disabilities and English Language Learners; the district realizes no savings, as its enrollment continues to increase, compounded by the closing of five private/parochial schools; and the actual budget impact equals six percent of the current school year budget, an increase of four percent from the 2002-03 school year.

Summary of Charter Entity’s Findings and Recommendations

 

The Trustees of the State University of New York made the following findings and/or recommendations:

 

• The School has submitted an application for a short-term renewal that meets the requirements of §2851(4) of the Education Law.
• The School meets the requirements of the Charter Schools Act and all applicable laws, rules, and regulations, and would be operated in an educationally and fiscally sound manner during the renewal period.
• Granting a short-term charter renewal for instruction in Kindergarten through grade 8 with a maximum projected enrollment of 890 students would likely improve student learning and achievement and materially further the purposes of the Act as set forth in §2850(2) of the Education Law.
• A short-term renewal will assist the School in its development of a new School management/operational plan as well as a new instructional program for the 2007-08 school year when the School will operate without a management partner.
• SUNY recommends the charter be renewed through and including July 31, 2008.
• The recent re-submission of the proposed charter addresses the concerns raised by the Board of Regents at its May 2007 meeting.

 

Recommendation

 

              Staff recommend that the Board of Regents take the following action:

 

VOTED: That the Board of Regents approve and issue the second renewal charter of the International Charter School of Schenectady as proposed by the Trustees of the State University of New York nuncpro tunc to April 4, 2007, and that its provisional charter be extended for a term ending on July 31, 2008.

 

 Reasons for Recommendation

 

(1) The charter school meets the requirements set out in Article 56 of the Education Law and all other applicable laws, rules, and regulations; (2) the charter school can demonstrate the ability to operate in an educationally and fiscally sound manner during the renewal period; and (3) granting a renewal is likely to improve student learning and achievement and materially further the purposes set out in subdivision two of section twenty-eight hundred fifty of Article 56 of the Education Law.

 

 

   

Attachment 1

 

International Charter School of Schenectady

English Language Arts – Grade 4

 

 

Year	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4
2002-03	16.7%	36.7%	40%	6.7%
2003-04	7%	62%	26.6%	3.5%
2004-05	0%	27.7%	63%	9.3%
2005-06	20%	40%	40%	0%

 

 

Mathematics – Grade 4

 

 

Year	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4
2002-03	17.2%	10.3%	51.7%	20.7%
2003-04	3.3%	26.7%	50%	20%
2004-05	0%	0%	82.7%	17.3%
2005-06	15%	33%	44%	8%

 

 

 

Science – Grade 4

 

 

	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4
2002-03 (n=27)	48.1% with Level 2*		51.9% with Level 4*
2003-04 (n=30)	3.3%	16.7%	63.3%	16.7%
2004-05 (=56)	0%	14.3%	50%	35.7%

*Breakout not provided by SED

 

 

 

Social Studies- Grade 5

 

	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4
2002-03 (n=30)	29.1%	14.5%	47.3%	9.1%
2003-04 (n=29)	24.1%	10.3%	55.2%	10.4%
2004-05 (n=58)	15.6%	12%	50%	22.4%

Attachment 2

 

International
Charter School of Schenectady

Performance on State Assessments vs. Schenectady City School District

 

	Assessment	Year	% Level 1	% Level 2	% Level 3	% Level 4
International CSS	ELA 4	2003	16.7	36.7	40.0	6.7
Schenectady CSD	ELA 4	2003	7.9	44.6	37.9	9.5
International CSS	ELA 4	2004	6.9	62.1	27.6	3.4
Schenectady CSD	ELA 4	2004	4.7	24.9	51.4	19.0
International CSS	ELA	2005	20.0	40.0	40.0	0.0
Schenectady CSD	ELA	2005	10.0	21.0	59.0	10.0
International CSS	Math 4	2003	17.2	10.3	51.7	20.7
Schenectady CSD	Math 4	2003	5.6	24.9	52.1	17.5
International CSS	Math 4	2004	3.3	26.7	50.0	20.0
Schenectady CSD	Math 4	2004	7.8	47.4	40.9	3.9
International CSS	Math	2005	15.0	33.0	44.0	8.0
Schenectady CSD	Math	2005	8.0	15.0	56.0	21.0

 

 

While ICSS is located within the Rotterdam-Mohonasen CSD, it draws approximately over 95% of its students from the Schenectady CSD, so a comparison with the Schenectady CSD is provided.