Meeting of the Board of Regents | April 2009

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

 

TO:
FROM:	Johanna Duncan-Poitier
SUBJECT:	Charter Schools: Proposed Third Renewal Charter for the Riverhead Charter School
DATE:	April 7, 2009
STRATEGIC GOAL:	Goals 1 and 2
AUTHORIZATION(S):

 

SUMMARY

 

Issue for Decision

 

Should the Regents approve the staff’s recommendation concerning the proposed third renewal charter application for the Riverhead Charter School (Riverhead CSD)? 

 

Reason(s) for Consideration

 

              Required by State statute, Education Law §2852.

 

Proposed Handling

 

This question will come before the EMSC Committee in April 2009 for action.  It will then come before the full Board for final action in April 2009.

 

Procedural History

 

The New York Charter Schools Act of 1998 requires the Board of Regents (“Board”) to review applications for both new charter schools and the renewal of existing charter schools that are submitted to it in accordance with the standards set forth in subdivision two of New York State Education Law §2852.  After review, the Board may either (a) approve an application and issue a charter or a renewal charter for a term of up to five years, or (b) deny the application.

In addition, New York Education Law §2852(7) provides that revisions of charter school charters shall be made only upon 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, it may either approve a proposed revision or deny it. If the Board of Regents denies the renewal application, the charter school may no longer provide instruction or operate the school at the end of its current charter.  The applicant must be given appropriate due process.  Subsequent to denying a renewal application, the existing provisional charter is revoked or dissolved. 

 

Background Information

 

We received a request from the Board of Trustees of the Riverhead Charter School (“the School”), a Board of Regents-authorized charter school located in the Riverhead Central School District, to approve its proposed third renewal charter application.   

 

The Board of Regents granted the School its initial charter in December 2000, and the School opened for instruction in September 2001 serving 250 students in grades K-5. The Board of Regents granted the School a first renewal charter for two years and five months on November 30, 2005 and a second renewal charter for one year on May 9, 2008.    The School now requests approval of a third renewal charter to commence on July 1, 2009, and run up through and including June 30, 2014.

 

The Riverhead Charter School, a performance-based public school of choice serving families of kindergarten through sixth grade students on Eastern Long Island, “emphasizes personal excellence and character development, embraces the cultural diversity of the community, and fosters the attainment of each student’s full potential with the purpose of providing life-long skills for success.”  The School’s Board of Trustees has expanded its membership and taken steps to acquire the necessary training and technical assistance needed to adequately oversee the School without an Educational Management Company (EMO). The School uses multiple teaching methodologies such as project-based learning, individualized instruction, cooperative learning, direct instruction and small group instruction depending on the subject matter and to support individualized student learning styles.  The School met all of its performance goals set for the 2007-2008 school year, and is deemed a Charter School in Good Standing as defined by the State’s Accountability Measures.  Approximately 10 percent (or 25 students) of the students enrolled in the School are identified as Students with a Disability and 23 percent (or 57 students) are identified as English Language Learners.

 

              The Riverhead Central School District held the required public hearing on this proposed third renewal charter on January 13, 2009 where approximately 20 people were in attendance. The District submitted minutes and a CD-ROM containing the audio of the public hearing in its entirety.  The District received five written statements from Longwood CSD, Shoreham-Wading River CSD, East Moriches UFSD, Riverhead CSD and a parent and taxpayer of the Riverhead CSD opposing the renewal of the Riverhead Charter School based on the belief that the current funding mechanism “places an unfair burden on local taxpayers” and “diverts critical resources away from district programs and services”. 

 

              Eight people, including the School Leader, two members of the Board of Trustees, and parents whose children attend the Riverhead Charter School, spoke in favor of the School’s charter renewal.  These comments focused on the academic progress and personal growth of the students attending the charter school and the importance of public school choice for parents who cannot afford a private school setting for their children.  The parents urged greater cooperation between the districts and the charter school—that “we all band together for the sake of the children.”

 

Staff recommends that the Board of Regents approve the proposed third renewal charter of the Riverhead Charter School.

 

Recommendation

 

              VOTED:  That the Board of Regents approves the renewal application of the Riverhead Charter School, that a third renewal charter be issued, and that its provisional charter be extended for a term up through and including June 30, 2014.

 

Reasons for Recommendations

 

              (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 has demonstrated the ability to operate in an educationally and fiscally sound manner; and (3) approving the proposed 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.

 

 

Timetable for Implementation

 

The Regents action for the Riverhead Charter School will be effective on July 1, 2009.

New York State Education Department

 

Summary of Charter School Renewal Information

 

Summary of Applicant Information

 

 

 

 

Address:  3685 Middle Country Road, Calverton, NY 11933-1801

 

Board of Trustees President: Kathryn Liddle

 

Requested Renewal Period:  July 1, 2009 - June 30, 2014.

 

District of Location: Riverhead Central School District

 

Charter Entity:  Board of Regents

 

Institutional Partner(s): None

 

Management Partner(s): None

 

Grades Served/ Projected Enrollment per Year:          2009-2014:      K-6, 280

 

 

Renewal Application Highlights

 

Evidence of Educational Soundness/ Attainment of Educational Objectives

 

• The School made AYP and its 2007-08 Accountability Status is a “Charter School in Good Standing.”
• The School increased its overall student proficiency on the State ELA Assessment for grades 3 through 6 by 19 percent—from 53 percent in 2006-07 to 72 percent passing in 2007-08.
• The School increased its overall student proficiency on the State Math Assessment for grades 3 through 6 by 35 percent—from 51 percent passing in 2006-07 to 86.9 percent passing in 2007-08.
• The School increased its overall student proficiency on the State Grade 4 Science Assessment by 35 percent—from 62.5 percent passing in 2006-07 to 97.4 percent passing in 2007-08.
• The School increased its overall student proficiency on the State Grade 5 Social Studies Assessment by 20 percent—from 65.4 percent passing in 2006-07 to 85.7 percent passing in 2007-08.

 

 

 

RCS Performance on state English Language Arts Assessment
Grade Level	Percentage of Students Scoring at Level of Proficiency (Levels 3 and 4)
	2005 – 2006	2006 - 2007	2007-08
3	71.0	56.6	63.4
4	35.3	63.9	67.5
5	40.0	56	80.0
6	N/A*	38	73.7
All Grades		53.6%	72.0%

*There was no 6th grade in the 2005-06 school year.

 

RCS Performance on state MATHEMATICS Assessment
Grade Level	Percentage of Students Scoring at Level of Proficiency (Levels 3 and 4)
	2005 – 2006	2006 - 2007	2007-08
3	79.5	80.7	95.0
4	41.2	78.9	85.0
5	40.0	60.0	70.6
6	N/A*	25.0	94.8
All Grades		51%	86.3%

 

*There was no 6th grade in the 2005-06 school year.

 

 

RCS Performance on state SCIENCE Assessment
Grade Level	Percentage of Students Scoring at Level of Proficiency (Levels 3 and 4)
	2005 – 2006	2006 - 2007	2007-08
4	49.0	62.5	97.4

 

 

RCS Performance on state SOCIAL STUDIES Assessment
Grade Level	Percentage of Students Scoring at Level of Proficiency (Levels 3 and 4)
	2005 – 2006	2006 - 2007	2007-08
5	82.4	65.4	85.7

 

Evidence of Fiscal Soundness/Projected Fiscal Impact

 

• The School’s audit for the year ending June 30, 2007 revealed the existence of several material weaknesses and significant deficiencies which the School has addressed.
• The Board of Trustees voted to function independently without a management company and terminated its management contract with Edison Schools, Inc.  Edison ceased its management of the School as of December 2007.
• The Board of Trustees first order of business was to improve its financial situation by hiring a Director of Operations to take over billing and receivables. The School is current with receivables.
• The School has a current cash reserve of over $2 million.
• The Board of Trustees has engaged the services of the National Charter School Institute to provide training and technical assistance to it, so that it can further develop the skills necessary to oversee the School in the absence of a management company.
• The Board has increased its dissolution fund to $75,000.
• The Board is developing a plan for generating discretionary funds. 
• Projected fiscal impact on the Riverhead CSD as the district of location is shown below.

On the Riverhead Central School District

Year	Number of Students	Percent Impact*
2009-10	280	3.85
2010-11	280	3.91
2011-12	280	3.96
2012-13	280	4.02
2013-14	280	4.08

 

*This assumes that all 280 students will come from the Riverhead CSD, which has historically not been the case.  Students come from as many as 11 other districts.  It cannot be predicted with any accuracy how many students may continue to enroll from Riverhead CSD or from other area districts.  Projections are based on requested enrollment, AOE per district (inflated 4.5 percent annually), and the District’s 2008-09 budget (inflated 3.0 percent annually).  Projections are subject to fluctuation in actual enrollments, FTE enrollments, AOE, and district budgets.

 

 

Evidence of Parent and Student Satisfaction

 

• The School designed and distributed a parent satisfaction survey in November 2008.  Fifty-six percent of the parents responded and 100 percent of those respondents reported that they are very satisfied with the charter school and believe their children are receiving a quality education.  These parents indicated that they would recommend the charter school to others.
• On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest satisfactory rating), parents rated the School principal, administrators, and teachers very highly with a rating of 8.5 or higher.
• Parents were less satisfied with the School’s facilities/equipment and curriculum, which received a rating of 7.3 and 7.9 respectively. 
• Students in grades K-6 were very satisfied with their teachers with a rating of 9.1 and rated their overall satisfaction with the School at 8.4.
• Students were fairly critical of the transportation system with a rating of 7.4.