Meeting of the Board of Regents | May 2010

SUMMARY

Issue for Decision

              Should the Regents approve the staff’s recommendations concerning the proposed first revision to the first renewal charter for Syracuse Academy of Science Charter School (Syracuse)? 

Background Information

              We received a request from the Syracuse Academy of Science Charter School (“the School”), which is a Board of Regents-authorized charter school located within the Syracuse City School District.  The Board of Regents granted the School its initial charter in January 2003 and its first renewal charter in January 2008. 

              Based on community and parental interest, the School seeks approval to add grades K through 6 to its current grade 7 through grade 12 configuration with no change in mission or educational philosophy.  The School plans to add 48 students each in Kindergarten, Grade 1, and Grade 6 for a maximum total enrollment of 504 students for the 2010-2011 school year.  In 2011-2012, grades 2 and 5 will be added for a total maximum enrollment of 600 students.  If this proposed revision is approved and the proposed second renewal scheduled for 2012 is approved, the School will enroll 48 students in Grade 3 and 48 students in Grade 4 in 2012-2013 for a maximum total enrollment of 696 students in grades K through 12.

              For the 2010-2011 school year, students in Kindergarten, Grade 1, and Grade 6 will be housed in the existing high school facility. The existing facility, however, cannot accommodate all the elementary grades. Therefore, the School will lease another facility to house all students in Kindergarten through Grade 5 beginning in the 2011-2012 school year. This second facility (a former parochial school leased from the Diocese) is within walking distance of the high school. 

              Upon approval of this revision, the School will hire six new teachers and four teaching assistants at the elementary level for the 2010-2011 school year. The School’s current leadership team (a School Director and Dean of Academics) will expand their leadership responsibilities to include the elementary grades. Together, the leadership team has 33 years of combined educational experience at the elementary, middle, and secondary levels (both as teachers and administrators, and one as a district level instructional supervisor). In the 2011-2012 school year when the elementary grades relocate to the second leased facility, the School will hire an elementary school leader referred to as the Dean of Elementary Education.

              The School’s mission is “to graduate men and women who think critically and creatively; have attained strong skills in mathematics, science, language, technology, history, and the arts; and are committed to a lifetime of learning and civic involvement. The school will empower students with high intellectual standards–building on their promise as they prepare for college, career and citizenship.” 

              Each student has access to a full time guidance counselor; is assigned to a faculty mentor; has a personalized learning plan; has the opportunity for international travel and exposure to many diverse cultures; has access to the latest technology and opportunities to participate in various Math and Science Olympiads and competitions; and has access to a myriad of other supports. The School, currently serving 360 students in grades 7 through 12, is a charter school in good academic standing towards achieving its mission.

              Seventy-six percent of Grade 7 students and sixty-two percent of Grade 8 students scored at or above level 3 on the 2008-2009 State ELA assessments.  On the 2008-2009 State Math assessment, sixty-four percent of Grade 7 students and seventy-five percent of the Grade 8 students scored at or above level 3. Sixty-five percent of the Grade 8 students scored proficient on the 2008-2009 State Science assessment.  In each instance, the School has outperformed the District.  At the secondary level, sixty-nine percent and seventy-three percent of the School’s 2005 cohort scored proficient on the State ELA and Math assessments respectively, outperforming the District by eighteen percent in English and twenty-six percent in Math. The School’s graduation rate (which is based on the percentage of the 2004 cohort that earned a local or Regents diploma by August 31, 2008) is fifty-four percent, exceeding the district’s rate by two percent.

              The School is in good fiscal condition with positive cash balances at the end of each school year.  The School currently has a surplus of $800,000.  The annual reports and fiscal audits show no material weaknesses. 

              The District held a public hearing regarding this proposed revision on March 12, 2010.  No public comments were made.

              Staff recommends that the Board of Regents approve the proposed first revision to the School’s first renewal charter of the Syracuse Academy of Science Charter School. 

Recommendation

VOTED:  That the Board of Regents approves the revision to the first renewal charter of the Syracuse Academy of Science Charter School, and the provisional charter is amended accordingly.

Reasons for Recommendation

              The proposed revision to the School’s first renewal charter, along with the other terms of the first renewal charter: (1) meets the requirements set out in Article 56 of the Education Law, and all other applicable laws, rules and regulations; (2) will permit the charter school to operate in an educationally and fiscally sound manner; and (3) 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: and (4) approving the proposed revision to the School’s third renewal charter will have a significant educational benefit to the students expected to attend the charter school.    

Timetable for Implementation

The Regents action for the Syracuse Academy of Science Charter School is effective immediately.