Meeting of the Board of Regents | April 2010

Report of the

REGENTS EMSC COMMITTEE

to

The Board of Regents

April 19, 2010

              Your EMSC Committee held its scheduled meeting on April 19, 2010.  All Committee members were present, except for Regent Tilles, who was excused.

ACTION ITEMS

 

 

Your Committee recommends that the Board of Regents approves and issues the first renewal charter of the Future Leaders Institute Charter School as proposed by the Chancellor of the city school district of the City of New York, and that its provisional charter be extended for a term up through and including March 14, 2013.   [EMSC (A) 1]

Your Committee recommends that the Board of Regents approves and issues the first renewal charter of the New York Center for Autism Charter School as proposed by the Chancellor of the city school district of the City of New York and that its provisional charter be extended for a term up through and including April 14, 2015.  [EMSC (A) 2]

Your Committee recommends that the Board of Regents approves and issues the second renewal charter of the KIPP Tech Valley 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 up through and including July 31, 2010.  [EMSC (A) 3]

Your Committee recommends that the provisional charter of the Stepping Stone Academy Charter School (the “Corporation”), located in the City of Buffalo, County of Erie, State of New York, which was granted by the Board of Regents on March 20, 2001, and extended by the Board of Regents on February 14, 2006  be, and the same hereby is, dissolved, that notice to such effect be given to the board of trustees of the Corporation, that any student records be transferred to the Buffalo City School District in accordance with the provisions of Education Law §2851(2)(t), that all other corporate books and records be transferred to the New York State Education Department’s Office of Public School Choice, and that any remaining assets of the Corporation be distributed in accordance with the procedures set forth in Education Law §220.  [EMSC (A) 4]

Your Committee recommends that the Board of Regents approves and issues the first renewal charter of the South Bronx Charter School for International Cultures and the Arts as proposed by the Chancellor of the city school district of the City of New York, and that its provisional charter be extended for a term up through and including May 16, 2013.  [EMSC (A) 5]

Your Committee recommends that the Board of Regents approves and issues the first renewal charter of the Achievement First Crown Heights Charter School, as proposed by the Chancellor of the city school district of the City of New York, and that its provisional charter be extended for a term up through and including March 14, 2015.  [EMSC (A) 6]

Your Committee recommends that the Board of Regents approves and issues the first renewal charter of the Achievement First East New York Charter School, as proposed by the Chancellor of the city school district of the City of New York, and that its provisional charter be extended for a term up through and including March 14, 2015. [EMSC (A) 7]

Your Committee recommends that the Board of Regents approves and issues the first renewal charter of the Harlem Children’s Zone Promise Academy II Charter School as proposed by the Chancellor of the city school district of the City of New York, and that its provisional charter be extended for a term up through and including April 14, 2015.  [EMSC (A) 8]

Your Committee recommends that the Board of Regents approves and issues the first renewal charter of the KIPP Always Mentally Prepared Academy Charter School as proposed by the Chancellor of the city school district of the City of New York, and that its provisional charter be extended for a term up through and including March 14, 2015.  [EMSC (A) 9]

Your Committee recommends that the Board of Regents approves and issues the first renewal charter of the KIPP Infinity Charter School as proposed by the Chancellor of the city school district of the City of New York, and that its provisional charter be extended for a term up through and including March 14, 2015.  [EMSC (A) 10]

Your Committee recommends that the Board of Regents approves and issues the first renewal charter of the New Heights Academy Charter School as proposed by the Chancellor of the city school district of the City of New York, and that its provisional charter be extended for a term up through and including April 14, 2015.  [EMSC (A) 11]

Your Committee recommends that the Board of Regents approves and issues the first renewal charter of the Williamsburg Collegiate Charter School as proposed by the Chancellor of the city school district of the City of New York, and that its provisional charter be extended for a term up through and including April 14, 2015.  [EMSC (A) 12]

 

MOTION FOR ACTION BY FULL BOARD

             

              Madam Chancellor and Colleagues:  Your EMSC Committee recommends, and we move, that the Board of Regents act affirmatively upon each recommendation in the written report of the Committee's deliberations at its meeting on April 20, 2010, copies of which have been distributed to each Regent.

MATTERS NOT REQUIRING BOARD ACTION

Middle Level Arts Instructional Requirements – The Committee discussed options for possible changes to the middle level arts instructional requirements to expand arts education opportunities for all New York State students.  Currently, all students in grades seven and eight are required to receive one-half unit of study in visual arts and one-half unit of study in music.  The NYCDOE has requested that the arts education disciplines of dance and theatre be added to the grade seven and eight arts instructional requirements to provide students the opportunity to pursue in-depth, sequential learning in more arts disciplines than currently available.  The Regents considered two options:

 

1. Permit school districts to choose any two arts disciplines (dance, music, theatre, visual arts) that they will offer in each school and continue to require one-half unit of study in two arts disciplines. In this case the district will decide the disciplines offered.
2. Permit school districts to provide one or more programs in the arts disciplines (dance, music, theatre, visual arts) and allow students to complete the arts instructional requirements in only one discipline.

 

Following the discussion, the Committee determined that Option 1 is the direction in which they would like to proceed.  Staff will draft regulations for the Committee to discuss in May.    [EMSC (D) 1]

 

Draft Proposed Policy on Providing Academic Intervention Services – The Committee discussed proposed policy changes that would give districts options and provide flexibility relating to Academic Intervention Services (AIS).  The proposed policy was developed due to ongoing concerns about the quality of the required AIS program. Staff made recommendations that would allow districts to:

1.     Continue with a current AIS model,

2.     Move to or expand on a Response to Intervention (RtI) model,

3.     Use a blended approach of AIS and RtI (ex: RtI in lower grades, AIS in upper grades), or

4.     Submit a plan via the district’s website on or before October 1, 2010 on how the district will provide services (such a plan must be substantially equivalent to AIS/RtI requirements).

Following the discussion, the Committee endorsed the proposed policy, which requires regulatory changes to include the proposed options.  Draft regulations will be discussed at the May meeting of the Board of Regents.   [EMSC (D) 2]

 

Merger of the Schools Under Registration Review (SURR) and Persistently Lowest-Achieving Schools (PLA) Processes – The Committee discussed proposed regulations that would consolidate the process of identifying SURR schools under Commissioner’s regulations with USED’s framework for identifying schools as Persistently Lowest-Achieving (PLA) in order for states to access State Fiscal Stabilization Funds (Phase II), School Improvement Grants and other federal funding opportunities.   The proposed regulations also require all newly identified SURR schools to implement intervention strategies based upon School Improvement Grant guidelines issued by USED in January of this year.  The Committee voted to endorse the merger of the SURR and PLA processes effective with the 2010-2011 school year as specified in EMSC (D) 3, and to commit to adopting regulations in June 2010 to accomplish this merger.    [EMSC (D) 3]

Receiving Course Credit for Independent Study – The Committee discussed preliminary draft regulations to implement Regents policy on receiving course credit for independent study.  The proposed amendment states that independent study may be awarded for elective courses, and not for courses required for a Regents diploma.  Study must be academically rigorous and aligned to the NYS learning standards, overseen by a teacher knowledgeable and experienced in the subject area, based on a syllabus on file and of comparable scope and quality to classroom work that would have been done in school.  The Committee discussed the criteria that would make students eligible to participate in independent study and also the additional requirement that students may only earn a maximum of 3 units of elective credit through independent study.  Staff will make any necessary changes to the draft regulations and will present proposed amendments for Regents approval in July.     [EMSC (D) 4]

 

That concludes our report.

 

 

                                                                                                  Anthony Bottar and Merryl Tisch       

                                                                                                  Co-Chairs