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

 

TO:	Full Board
FROM:	James A. Kadamus
SUBJECT:	Revisions to Charter School Charters
DATE:	July 12, 2005
STRATEGIC GOAL:	Goals 1 and 2
AUTHORIZATION(S):

 

SUMMARY

 

Issue for Decision (Consent Agenda)

 

Should the Regents accept the staff recommendations on the proposed amendments to the charters of the charter schools identified below?

 

Reason(s) for Consideration

          Required by Education Law §2852(7).

Proposed Handling

 

This question will come before the full Board for action on July 21, 2005.

 

Procedural History

 

The charter for the East Harlem Village Academy Charter School (EHVACS) was issued in September 2002.  The School is preparing for its third year of operation.  The School was authorized by the State University of New York (SUNY) Board of Trustees.

 

The charter for the East New York Village Academy Charter School (ENYVACS) was issued in September 2002.  The School is preparing to open in September 2005.  The School was authorized by the SUNY Board of Trustees.  

 

The charter for the Enterprise Charter School (ECS) was issued in March 2003.  The School is preparing for its third year of operation.  The School was authorized by the Buffalo Board of Education. 

 

The charter for the Girls Preparatory Charter School of New York (GPCS) was issued in March 2004.  The School is preparing for its first year of operation.  The School was authorized by the SUNY Board of Trustees.

 

The charter for the Merrick Academy--Queens Public Charter School (MAQPCS) was initially issued in 2000. On May 16, 2005, the Board of Regents voted to approve the renewal application of the School for five years.  The School is in its fifth year of operation.  The School was authorized by the SUNY Board of Trustees.

 

Background Information

 

          The East Harlem Village Academy Charter School is located in New York City.  The School’s institutional partner is Village Academies Network, Inc. In the 2004-2005 school year, EHVACS served 104 students in grades 5-6.  The School has determined that the School’s name is not suited to the needs of the School as it plans to move from its current facility before the 2006-2007 school year.  The School seeks to change its name to Harlem Village Academy Charter School. The School also seeks to adjust the enrollment of the School, due to limited facility space. SUNY has requested that the School be allowed to reduce enrollment from 312 to 151 students in 2005-2006 and from 416 to 241 in 2006-2007. Based on a review of the budget forecasts submitted to the Charter Schools Institute (CSI), amending the School’s charter will “not unduly impact negatively on the fiscal stability of the School.”  The School has not administered State testing.  In 2005, 73.7% of EHVACS students performed at Levels 3 and 4 on the New York City math test; 70.7% of the students scored at Levels 3 and 4 on the New York City ELA test.  In the 2003-2004 school year, 11.8% of EHVACS's enrollment was classified as students with disabilities. (See Attachments 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, and 1e)

 

The East New York Village Academy Charter School will be located in New York City.  The institutional partner is Village Academies Network, Inc.  The School will begin serving students in September 2005.  The School seeks to change its name to the Leadership Village Academy Charter School.  The ENYVACS Board of Trustees finds the name inconsistent with the new location of the school; the School will be located in Harlem not in East New York.  The School also seeks to reduce the enrollment of the School for each of the next two years, due to limited facility space.  SUNY has requested that the School be allowed to reduce enrollment from 104 to 56 students in 2005-2006 and from 208 to 107 in 2006-2007.  CSI, on behalf of SUNY, reports that the School needs to reduce enrollment “due to a lack of space in the School’s proposed facility (to be located in New York City Department of Education) space.”  SUNY has indicated the School will utilize space presently used by the East Harlem Village Academy Charter School during the 2006-2007 school year.  In addition, SUNY states the School is likely to have additional space within the anticipated location to increase the number of enrolled students.  Based on a review of the School’s budget forecasts, CSI finds that amending the School’s charter will not negatively impact fiscal stability.  (See Attachments 2a, 2b, 2c, and 2d)

 

The Enterprise Charter School is located in Buffalo and currently serves 460 students in grades K-9.  Its charter authorizer is the Buffalo Board of Education, and the Board of Regents approved the proposed charter at its March 2003 meeting.  The School opened for instruction in September 2003.  In the 2003-2004 school year, 18.8% of ECS’s enrollment was classified as students with disabilities.  The Buffalo Board of Education has requested that the School’s charter be amended, allowing it to expand to serve students through grade 10, with a maximum enrollment of 605 students, starting in September 2005. (See Attachments 5 and 5a.)

 

          The Girls Preparatory Charter School of New York will open in September 2005 and will be located in New York City.  The School delayed its opening by one year for planning purposes.  GPCS will serve grades K–1 and grow to serve grades K–4.   The School does not have an institutional or management partner.   SUNY has requested that the School be allowed to increase its enrollment by five students on each grade level for the remaining four years of its charter.  (See Attachments 3a, 3b and 3c)

 

The Merrick Academy—Queens Public Charter School (MAQPCS) is located in New York City.  The School’s management partner is Victory Schools, Inc. The School presently serves grades K-5 and enrolls 500 students.  In the 2003-2004 school year, 5.8% of MAQPCS's enrollment was classified as students with disabilities.  The School seeks to change its grade configuration to K-6.  The School also seeks to change its enrollment plan.  Under this proposed revision to the charter, the School does not propose to increase enrollment.  The total enrollment will not exceed 525 students.  SUNY has requested that the School be allowed to serve grade 6 and modify the enrollment cap, while limiting total school enrollment to 525.  The factors leading to the request include the following: (1) Community Need – the school has a waiting list of 510 students and parents of exiting fifth graders prefer to remain in the School through sixth grade. (2) Academic and Institutional Continuity – administrators, teachers and parents indicated that adding a sixth grade to the School will strengthen the academic continuity provided by MAQPCS and improve teaching and learning for students.  Based on a review of the School’s budget forecasts, CSI finds that amending the School’s charter will not negatively impact fiscal stability.  (See Attachments 4a, 4b, 4c, and 4d)

 

Recommendation

 

VOTED:  That the Board of Regents take the following actions:  

 

• Approve the recommendation to amend the charter of the East Harlem Village Academy Charter School, to allow the School to change its name to Harlem Village Academy Charter School and to reduce enrollment from 312 to 151 students in 2005-2006 and from 416 to 241 in 2006-2007;

 

• Approve the recommendation to amend the charter of the East New York Village Academy, to allow the School to change its name to the Leadership Village Academy Charter School and to reduce enrollment from 104 to 56 students in 2005-2006 and from 208 to 107 in 2006-2007;

 

• Approve the recommendation to amend the charter of the Enterprise Charter School, Buffalo, to allow the School to expand to include grade 10 and to cap enrollment at 605 students, starting with the 2005-06 school year;

 

• Approve the recommendation to amend the charter of the Girls Preparatory Charter School of New York, to allow the School to revise its enrollment for the remaining four years of its charter; and

 

• Approve the recommendation to amend the charter of the Merrick Academy—Queens Public Charter School, to allow the School to add grade 6 beginning September 2005.

 

Timetable for Implementation

 

The amendments to the existing charters for these charter schools will become effective upon the approval of the Board of Regents on July 21, 2005.

 

 

 

 

Attachments

 

Attachment 1a

Original Enrollment Plan

East Harlem Village Academy Charter School

Grades	Year 1 2002-03	Year 2 2003-2004	Year 3 2004-05	Year 4 2005-06	Year 5 2006-07
6	104	104	104	104	104
7		104	104	104	104
8			104	104	104
9				104	104
Total	104	208	312	416	520

 

Attachment 1b

Amended Enrollment Plan (effective February 25, 2003)

East Harlem Village Academy Charter School

Grades	Year 1 2002-03	Year 2 2003-2004	Year 3 2004-05	Year 4 2005-06	Year 5 2006-07
5		104	104	104	104
6			104	104	104
7				104	104
8					104
Total		104	208	312	416

 

Attachment 1c

Amended Enrollment Plan (effective March 2004)

East Harlem Village Academy Charter School

Grades	Year 1 2002-03	Year 2 2003-2004	Year 3 2004-05	Year 4 2005-06	Year 5 2006-07
5		76	55	104	104
6			70	104	104
7				104	104
8					104
Total		76	125	312	416

 

Attachment 1d

Proposed Enrollment Plan

Harlem Village Academy Charter School

Grades	Year 1 2002-03	Year 2 2003-2004	Year 3 2004-05	Year 4 2005-06	Year 5 2006-07
5				56	104
6				50	51
7				45	45
8					41
Total				151	241

 

 

 

Attachment 1e

Potential Fiscal Impact of the

Harlem Village Academy Charter School

 (New York City— Harlem, CSD 4/Region 9)

School Year	Number of Students	Projected Payment*	Projected Impact
2005-06	151	$1,354,772	.0096%
2006-07	241	$2,259,553	.0155%

*Assumes a 3 percent increase in the district’s budget and a 4.5 percent increase in the average expense per pupil, per year.

 

Attachment 2a

Original Enrollment Plan

East New York Village Academy Charter School

Grades	Year 1 2002-03	Year 2 2003-2004	Year 3 2004-05	Year 4 2005-06	Year 5 2006-07
6	104	104	104	104	104
7		104	104	104	104
8			104	104	104
9				104	104
10					104
Total	104	208	312	424	520

 

Attachment 2b

Amended Enrollment Plan (Effective February 2003)

East New York Village Academy Charter School

Grades	Year 1 2002-03	Year 2 2003-2004	Year 3 2004-05	Year 4 2005-06	Year 5 2006-07
5				104	104
6					104
7
8
Total				104	208

 

Attachment 2c

Proposed Enrollment Plan

Leadership Village Academy Charter School

Grades	Year 1 2002-03	Year 2 2003-2004	Year 3 2004-05	Year 4 2005-06	Year 5 2006-07
5				56	56
6					51
7
8
9
Total				56	107

 

 

 

Attachment 2d

Potential Fiscal Impact of the Charters

Leadership Village Academy Charter School

 (New York City – Manhattan, CSD 4, Region 9)

School Year	Number of Students	Projected Payment*	Projected Impact
2005-06	56	$502,432	.0036%
2006-07	107	$1,003,204	.0069%

*Assumes a 3 percent increase in the district’s budget and a 4.5 percent increase in the average expense per pupil, per year.

 

 

Attachment 3a

Original Enrollment Plan

for the

Girls Preparatory Charter School of New York

Grades	Year 1 2004-05	Year 2 2005-06	Year 3 2006-07	Year 4 2007-08	Year 5 2008-09
K	40	60	60	60	60
1	40	40	60	60	60
2		40	40	60	60
3			40	40	60
4				40	40
5					40
Total	80	140	200	260	320

 

Attachment 3b

Proposed Enrollment Plan

for the

Girls Preparatory Charter School of New York

Grades	Year 1 2004-05	Year 2 2005-06	Year 3 2006-07	Year 4 2007-08	Year 5 2008-09
K		45	65	65	65
1		45	45	65	65
2			45	45	65
3				45	45
4					45
5
Total		90	155	220	285

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Attachment 3c

Potential Fiscal Impact for the

Girls Preparatory Charter School of New York

 (New York City – Queens, CSD 1, Region 9)

School Year	Number of Students	Projected Payment*	Projected Impact
2005-06	0	$0	0.0%
2006-07	90	$843,817	.0058%
2007-08	155	$1,518,635	.0101%
2008-09	220	$2,252,479	.0146%
2009-10	285	$3,049,294	.0192%

*Assumes a 3 percent increase in the district’s budget and a 4.5 percent increase in the average expense per pupil, per year.

 

Attachment 4a

Original Enrollment Plan

Merrick Academy--Queens Public Charter School

Grades	Year 1 2005-06	Year 2 2006-07	Year 3 2007-08	Year 4 2008-09	Year 5 2009-10
K	50	25	50	50	75
1	50	50	25	50	50
2	50	50	50	50	50
3	75	50	50	50	50
4	75	75	50	50	50
5	75	75	75	50	50
6	75	75	75	75	50
7	50	75	75	75	75
8		50	75	75	75
Total	500	525	525	525	525

 

Attachment 4b

Future Enrollment Plan

Merrick Academy--Queens Public Charter School

Grades	Year 1 2005-06	Year 2 2006-07	Year 3 2007-08	Year 4 2008-09	Year 5 2009-10
K	100	75	75	75	75
1	50	100	75	75	75
2	75	50	100	75	75
3	75	75	50	100	75
4	75	75	75	50	100
5	75	75	75	75	50
6	50	75	75	75	75
Total	500	525	525	525	525

 

 

 

 

 

Attachment 4c

Potential Fiscal Impact for the

Merrick Academy--Queens Public Charter School

 (New York City – Queens, CSD 29, Region 3)

School Year	Number of Students	Projected Payment*	Projected Impact
2005-06	500	$4,293,000	.0318%
2006-07	525	$4,710,494	.0339%
2007-08	525	$4,922,466	.0344%
2008-09	525	$5,143,977	.0349%
2009-10	525	$5,375,456	.0354%

*Assumes a 3 percent increase in the district’s budget and a 4.5 percent increase in the average expense per pupil, per year.

 

Attachment 4d

 

Merrick Academy--Queens Public Charter School

Performance on New York State Assessments

 

		Percent of Students
Assessment	Year	% Level 1	% Level 2	% Level 3	% Level 4	Performance Index
4th Grade ELA	2002-2003*	6	28	57	9	163
4th Grade ELA	2003-2004	6	38	47	9	143
4th Grade ELA	2004-2005	6.8	23.3	50.7	19.2	163
4th Grade Math	2002-2003*	4	40	52	4	156
4th Grade Math	2003-2004	5	29	51	15	153
4th Grade Math	2004-2005	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA

* - Indicates first year for which State Assessment results were available.  2002-2003 was the first year in which the school provided instruction to the fourth grade.

         

Attachment 5

 

 

Potential Fiscal Impact* of All Area Charter Schools

on the Buffalo City School District

2005-09

 

*Assumes a 3 percent increase in the district’s budget and a 4.5 percent increase in the average expense per pupil, per year.

 

 

Attachment 5a

 

Enterprise Charter School

Performance on New York State Assessments*

 

		Percent of Students
Assessment	Year	% Level 1	% Level 2	% Level 3	% Level 4	Performance Index
4th Grade ELA	2003-04	31.3	52.1	14.6	2.1	85.5
4th Grade ELA	2004-05	13.0	50.0	32.6	4.3	123.8
4th Grade Math	2003-04	10.6	55.3	25.5	8.5	123.3
4th Grade Math	2004-05	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
8th Grade ELA	2003-04	20.9	62.8	16.3	0.0	95.4
8th Grade ELA	2004-05	20.4	63.3	16.3	0.0	95.9
8th Grade Math	2003-04	52.3	40.9	6.8	0.0	54.5
8th Grade Math	2004-05	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA

*Results of grade 9 Regents Examinations not yet available