Meeting of the Board of Regents | January 2008

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

 

TO:
FROM:	Johanna Duncan-Poitier
SUBJECT:	Brighter Choice Charter School for Girls Charter School Revision
DATE:	January 2, 2008
STRATEGIC GOAL:	Goals 1 and 2
AUTHORIZATION(S):

 

SUMMARY

 

Issue for Decision

 

Should the Regents approve the staff’s recommendations concerning the proposed amendments to charter for the Brighter Choice Charter School for Girls (Albany)? 

 

Reason(s) for Consideration

 

              Required by State statute, Education Law §2852.

 

Proposed Handling

 

This question will come before the EMSC Committee in January 2008 for action.  It will then come before the full Board for final action in January 2008.

 

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.  

 

Background Information

 

We received a request from the Brighter Choice Charter School for Girls (“the School”) to amend its charter to move to year round schooling by adding four additional weeks of instruction during July and August (a total of 224 days of instruction per year); to reduce class sizes in Kindergarten; to expand to include grade 5 beginning in the 2010 school year; and to add a reserve fund. The School is a Board of Regents-authorized charter school.  Its initial charter was granted in January 2001, and it received a five-year renewal on January 10, 2006.  The School currently serves 175 students in grades K-4.  The School has consistently outperformed its district of location on State assessments as shown in Table 1.  Projected fiscal impact for the 2010 (the year in which the proposed expansion to include grade 5 would occur) is shown in Table 2.

 

              The Albany City School District (“the District”) held a public hearing on the matter and submitted a transcript along with a written statement from three individual district teachers.  The Albany City School District has provided comments on the proposed revisions.  In a letter dated December 17, 2007, the District makes the following points and allegations in opposition:

 

• Adding a middle school will further destabilize the District and interfere with its ability to sustain its own improvement efforts;
• No charter middle school has ever been able to meet its intended enrollment targets;
• The Brighter Choice Charter Schools have an 80 percent student turnover rate from 2002 to today;
• The District questions whether there is any “real demand for a K-8 charter School configuration such as the one proposed for the Brighter Choice Charter Schools for Boys and Girls;”
• The District has shown “notable gains in middle level results, particularly in grades 6 and 7;”
• The District’s budget was defeated on May 15, 2007, and the District asserts that charter school payments were a factor in this defeat;
• Charter schools in Albany are “consistently under-enrolled by 20%-50% of their approved enrollments signifying a great excess capacity of charter schools in Albany;” and
• Adding a fourth middle school program “will not provide a ‘significant educational benefit to the students expected to attend’.” 

 

A copy of the District’s letter is available for your inspection in the Regents Office.  Staff recommend that the Board of Regents approve the proposed revision.

 

 

Table 1: Percent of Students Scoring

At Levels 1- 4 on State Assessments in

ELA and Math

 

	ELA									Math
	2005-06									2005-06
	Grade 3				Grade 4					Grade 3				Grade 4
	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4		1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4
Brighter Choice - Girls	8	29	58	4	19	25	56	0		8	8	60	24	0	24	71	6
Albany CSD	16	33	47	4	20	32	43	4		14	23	49	18	20	26	43	12
	2006-07									2006-07
	Grade 3				Grade 4					Grade 3				Grade 4
	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4		1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4
Brighter Choice - Girls	4	39	58	0	0	35	65	0		0	12	85	4	0	21	69	11
Albany CSD	16	35	45	5	15	35	45	5		9	26	52	13	12	25	49	14

 

 

Table 2: Projected*
Fiscal Impact

Of All Charter Schools

In Albany for 2010

 

School	Projected Enrollment	2010-11
Achievement Academy CS	300	1.59
Albany Community CS	338	1.79
Albany Preparatory CS	250	1.32
Brighter Choice CS for Boys	300	1.59
Brighter Choice CS for Girls	300	1.59
Green Tech High CS	275	1.46
Henry Johnson CS	275	1.46
KIPP Tech Valley CS	360	1.91
New Covenant CS	625	3.31
Projected Totals	3,023	16.02

 

 

*Assumes a District budget of approximately $236,733,338 for 2010-11, and an average expense per pupil of $12,541.  Projections are subject to fluctuation in actual enrollments, FTE enrollments, AEP, and district budgets.  Further assumes all students will come from the district of location, and that all other current charter schools will still be in operation in 2010.

 

Recommendation

 

VOTED: That the Board of Regents approve the revision to the first renewal charter of the Brighter Choice Charter School for Girls, and the provisional charter is amended accordingly.

 

Reasons for Recommendations

 

The proposed revision to the school’s charter, along with the other terms of the 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;  (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) will have a significant educational benefit to the students expected to attend the charter school.

 

Timetable for Implementation

 

The Regents action for the Brighter Choice Charter School for Girls is effective immediately.