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:	Sankofa Charter School Proposed First Renewal Charter
DATE:	January 11, 2008
STRATEGIC GOAL:	Goals 1 and 2
AUTHORIZATION(S):

 

SUMMARY

 

Issue for Decision

 

Should the Regents approve the staff’s recommendations concerning the proposed first renewal of the charter for the Sankofa Charter School (Buffalo)? 

 

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 to review, in accordance with the standards set forth in Education Law §2852(2), proposed charters, renewal charters and revisions to charters and renewal charters that have been approved and submitted by other charter entities.  The Board of Regents may either approve and issue a charter, renewal charter and/or revision as proposed by the charter entity, or return the same to the charter entity for reconsideration with written comments and recommendations.

 

 

 

Background Information

 

We received a request from the Board of Trustees of the State University of New York (“SUNY”) to renew the initial charter of the Sankofa Charter School (“the School”).    The initial charter was granted by the Board of Regents on March 25, 2003.  SUNY has requested that the charter be renewed and its provisional charter extended only through July 31, 2008.  Staff recommend that the request be approved.

 

Recommendation

 

VOTED: That the Board of Regents approve and issue the first renewal charter of the Sankofa Charter School as proposed by the Board of Trustees of the State University of New York, and that its provisional charter be extended for a term ending on July 31, 2008.

 

Reasons for Recommendations

 

The charter school: (1) meets the requirements set out in Article 56 of the Education Law, and all other applicable laws, rules and regulations; (2) will, during the renewal period, operate in an educationally and fiscally sound manner;  (3) is likely, during the renewal period, 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) during the renewal period, will have a significant educational benefit to the students expected to attend the proposed charter school.

 

Timetable for Implementation

 

The Regents action for the Sankofa Charter School is effective immediately.

 

New York State Education Department

 

Summary of Charter School Renewal Information

 

Summary of Applicant Information

 

 

 

 

Address:   140 Park Plaza, Buffalo, NY 14214

 

Board of Trustees President:  Samuel A. Savarino

 

Requested Renewal Period: March 26, 2008 – July 31, 2008

 

District of Location: Buffalo                                     

 

Charter Entity:  SUNY

 

Institutional Partner(s): N/A

 

Management Partner(s): N/A

 

Grades Served per Year:    5-8                                                 

 

Projected Enrollment per Year: 200

 

 

Renewal Application Highlights

 

 

Evidence of Educational Soundness/ Attainment of Educational Objectives

• The student achievement results for the Sankofa Charter School (“the School”) are shown in the table below.
• The results indicate that the School’s overall ELA results are very weak, while the math results are inconsistent.
• The School is considered to be a School in Need of Improvement, requiring a School Quality Review.
• The School has not been able to meet its goal that “All students at KIPP Sankofa Charter School will become proficient readers and writers of the English language.”
• The renewal application also states, “we have not yet met our ELA goal of 65% and 75% proficiency” and ‘we have not yet met all of the English goals set forth in our Accountability Plan.” 
• The School has since partnered with the Western New York Educational Service Council and Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound to provide professional development to help its teachers “learn best teaching practices, while also learning how to use data to drive instruction.”
• The School met its goal of having a higher Performance Index than certain other Buffalo City School District schools (i.e., Frank Sedita Community School, the Grabiarz School of Excellence, and PS #43), for both ELA and math. 
• The School has determined that its use of the Stanford Achievement Test-10 as an independent academic assessment is not useful, since it is more closely aligned to California’s State Standards and not New York’s.  It will begin using the Terra Nova exam next school year.
• The School has not met its goal of reducing by one-half the gap between the 2004-05 student cohort’s baseline performance (in grade 5) and their 8th grade performance, in either ELA or math. 
• The School has not met its goal that “All students at KIPP Sankofa Charter School will demonstrate proficiency in the understanding and application of mathematical computation and [problem-solving.”
• The renewal application also states, “We have not yet achieved our (math) proficiency goal” and “we have not yet met all of the Math goals set forth in our Accountability Plan.”
• The School has not yet met its Science goal, that “All students at KIPP Sankofa Charter School will demonstrate competency in the understanding and application of scientific reasoning and problem-solving.”
• The School did not meet its goal of having 75 percent of the students who have been enrolled for two or more years attain Levels 3 and 4 on the grade 8 new York State Assessment in science.
• The School asserts “This year was hard to find a certified and qualified middle school science teacher (sic).”   It further asserts that it will “make sure that our curriculum is properly aligned to meet state standards.”
• The School has not yet met is Social Studies goal that “All students at KIPP Sankofa will demonstrate competency in the understanding and application of social, geographical, civic, and world studies.”   The majority of the grade 8 students are performing a Level 2 on the New York State Assessment in Social Studies.
• The School asserts “This year was hard to find a certified and qualified middle school Social Studies teacher (sic), but we did in April 2007.”   It further asserts that it will “make sure that our curriculum is properly aligned to meet state standards.”

 

Grades 5-8 State ELA Assessments

Percent of Students at Levels 1 - 4

 

Year of Test	Grade5				Grade 6				Grade 7				Grade 8
	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4
2006-07	14.3	64.3	21.4	0.0	1.9	62.3	35.8	0.0	1.7	77.6	20.7	0.0	1.6	68.7	29.7	0.0
2005-06	18.2	48.5	31.8	1.5	21.2	60.6	18.2	0.0	24.4	55.1	20.5	0.0	NA	NA	NA	NA

 

 

 

 

Grades 5-8 State Math Assessments

Percent of Students at Levels 1 - 4

 

Year of Test	Grade5				Grade 6				Grade 7				Grade 8
	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4
2006-07	5.9	54.9	35.3	3.9	11.3	47.2	39.6	1.9	22.8	47.4	29.8	0.0	4.7	50.0	42.2	3.1
2005-06	42.2	37.5	18.8	1.5	42.4	42.4	15.2	0.0	22.4	52.6	2.5	0.0	NA	NA	NA	NA

 

 

Evidence of Fiscal Soundness/Projected Fiscal Impact

• See tables below.  The proposed first renewal charter will end in July 2008, so the first table below addresses the 2007-08 school year only.
• The second table shows the projected fiscal impact for 2008-13 and is based upon a presumption that the charter will be further renewed.
• The School has received no notices of material weaknesses in any of its yearly financial audits.

 

 

Projected

Fiscal Impact of the

Sankofa Charter School

2007-08

School Year	Number of Students	Projected Impact
2007-08	200	0.28

*Assumes a 4.5 percent annual increase in the district’s budget and a 3 percent annual increase in the average expense per pupil.  Projections are subject to fluctuation in actual enrollments, FTE enrollments, AEP, and district budgets.

 

 

 

Projected*

Fiscal Impact

Of All Charter Schools

In Buffalo

2008-09 Through 2012-13

School	2008-09	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13
Buffalo Academy of Science CS	0.63	0.62	0.61	0.60	0.59
Buffalo United CS	0.98	0.96	0.95	0.94	0.92
CS for Applied Technologies**	1.75	1.73	1.70	1.68	1.65
COMMUNITY CS	0.49	0.48	0.47	0.47	0.46
Elmwood Village CS	0.24	0.24	0.24	0.23	0.23
Enterprise CS	0.57	0.56	0.55	0.54	0.53
King Center CS	0.15	0.14	0.14	0.14	0.14
Oracle CS	0.50	0.50	0.49	0.48	0.47
Pinnacle CS	0.67	0.66	0.65	0.64	0.63
Sankofa CS	0.28	0.28	0.27	0.27	0.26
South Buffalo CS	0.98	0.97	0.96	0.94	0.93
Tapestry CS	0.57	0.66	0.68	0.67	0.66
Western NY Maritime CS	0.49	0.48	0.47	0.47	0.46
Westminster Community CS	0.77	0.76	0.75	0.74	0.72
Total Projected Impact	9.07	9.04	8.93	8.81	8.65

*Assumes a 4.5 percent annual increase in the district’s budget and a 3 percent annual increase in the average expense per pupil.  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 charter schools will still be in operation from 2008-09 forward.

** Located within Kenmore-Tonawanda CSD but receives approximately 85 percent of its student enrollment from Buffalo.   Impact is therefore calculated upon 85 percent of its anticipated enrollment.

 

 

Sankofa Charter School

Change in Net Assets 2004-05 Through 2006-07*

 

Year	Change in Net Assets
2004-05	$103,104
2005-06	$29,478
2006-07	$29,478

*Source: Audited Financial Statements provided as a part of each Annual Report.

 

 

Evidence of Parent and Student Satisfaction and Community Support

• The required hearing was held on January 9, 2008 by the Buffalo City School District, and no comments were received.
• Student survey results were provided for grades 5 and 6.  None were provided for parents.
• Overall grade 5 results show (on a scale of 1 – 5 with 1 being low), an average score of 3.8.
• Overall grade 6 results show (on a scale of 1 – 5 with 1 being low), an average score of 3.7