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 School Revision
DATE:	June 13, 2007
STRATEGIC GOAL:	Goals 1 and 2
AUTHORIZATION(S):

 

SUMMARY

 

Issue for Action (Consent Agenda)

 

Should the Board of Regents approve a request from the Charter School of Applied Technologies (Kenmore) to revise its existing charter?

 

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

 

New York Education Law §2852(7) provides that revisions of charter school charters shall be made only upon the approval of the charter entity and the Board of Regents in accordance with the provisions of the law applicable to the issuance of  charters themselves.   With respect to charter schools directly chartered by the Board of Regents, the Board may either approve a proposed revision or deny it.  With respect to charter schools chartered by other charter entities, the Board may either approve and issue the revisions as proposed by the charter entity, or return the proposed revision to the charter entity for reconsideration with written comments and recommendations. 

 

Background Information

 

We received a request from the Charter School for Applied Technologies (Kenmore), a Regents-authorized charter school, to amend its charter. 

 

CharterSchool for Applied Technologies:  The School is located within the Kenmore-Tonawanda Central School District, but draws approximately 85 percent of its students from the Buffalo Public Schools.   The Board of Regents issued the School its initial charter on February 1, 2001, and the School commenced instruction in September 2001 with 700 students in grades K through 6.  The School’s first renewal charter was granted by the Board of Regents on January 10, 2006 for a period of five years. During the 2007-08 school year, the School will serve 1,475 students in grades K-12.  The School seeks to modify its current high school curricula by adding new courses in the following areas: music, art, technology, creative writing, consumer math, science (crime scene investigation), and space science.  The music course is called Music Technology.  Sample units of instruction include composition using advanced editing techniques, orchestration and arrangement, and adding special effects. The art course is called Studio in Art – Photography. The Technology course is a Communications System Technology course that emphasizes the use of technology in communications systems such as photo documentation.   The Creative Writing course explores imaginative uses of language through a variety of creative writing genres.   The Consumer Math course will explore topics in retail banking, household finance, and the stock market.  The two science courses (Crime Science Investigation and Space Science) are new elective courses.  Staff recommend the Regents approve this proposed revision. 

 

Complete copies of the current charter and materials pertaining to the requested revisions to the charter are available from 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 the revision to the first renewal charter of the Charter School for Applied Technologies, and the provisional charter is amended accordingly.

 

Reasons for Recommendation

 

The revisions to the charter of the above school chartered by the Board of Regents, (together with the other terms of its charter):  (1) will meet 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) are 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.

 

 

Timetable for Implementation

 

Upon approval by the Board of Regents, the above action will become effective immediately.