Meeting of the Board of Regents | May 2010

SUMMARY

Issue for Decision

              Should the Regents approve the staff’s recommendations concerning the proposed first revision to the first renewal charter for Charter School of Educational Excellence (Yonkers)? 

Background Information

              We received a request from the Board of Trustees of the Charter School of Educational Excellence (“the School”), a Board of Regents authorized charter school located within the Yonkers City School District. The School, managed by Victory Schools, Inc., currently serves 375 students in grades K through 6. The Board of Regents granted the School its initial charter on January 12, 2004, and granted the School its first renewal charter nunc pro tunc on January 12, 2009, for a term up through and including June 30, 2013. 

              Parents of students who attended or who currently attend the School are pleased with the Core Knowledge educational/instructional program and the academic performance of their children, leading them to request and urge the School’s Board of Trustees to consider expanding to include the middle school grades.  As a result, the School seeks to add grades 7 and 8 and increase its maximum projected enrollment by the end of the School’s renewal period to 669 students in grades K through 8.

              The School is in good academic standing. The School’s curriculum is aligned with the New York State Learning Standards and the applicant has provided an assurance that the School’s curriculum will, at all times, be aligned with all of the New York State Learning Standards in effect at any time.  In 2007-2008, students in Grade 4 and Grade 6 outperformed the District on the State ELA assessment and students in grades 3, 4 and 6 outperformed the District on the State Math assessment.  On both the 2008-2009 State ELA and Math assessments, students in grades 3 through 6 continued the upward trend in performance.  One hundred percent of the Grade 4 students in 2008-2009 scored at or above level 3 on the State Science assessment.

              This March, the School received the New York State Exemplary Reading Program Award from the New York State Reading Association at its annual conference in Saratoga Springs. The School received recognition of this prestigious award at the annual meeting of the International Reading Association in Chicago, Illinois on April 25, 2010.

              Upon approval of this revision, the School will hire six certified elementary level teachers for the 2010-2011 school year. The School’s current leadership team consists of a School Principal who is an experienced middle school teacher and administrator, and an Assistant Principal who is an experienced elementary school teacher and administrator. The School Principal will continue her leadership responsibilities of the entire school but she specifically will focus on the implementation of the middle level educational/instructional program.   

              The School is in good fiscal condition as evidenced by positive cash balances at the end of each school year and by the submission of annual reports and fiscal audits which show no material weaknesses. 

              The School intends to expand its current facilities to accommodate the projected student enrollment for grades 7 and 8 over the next four years. The School engaged an architect and a developer to design and construct a modular addition to house grades 6 through 8.  The addition will connect to the existing school via an enclosed walkway and also house a library/media center and a gymnasium that is lacking in the existing facility. The City of Yonkers approved the School’s request to issue a tax free bond to fund the addition and improvements to the existing school facility, and authorized the Yonkers Economic Development Agency to issue the bond.  If the Board of Regents approves this revision, the School will seek investors to support the bond and begin construction of the new addition.

              The District held a public hearing regarding this proposed revision on March 24, 2010.  No comments were received from the public or the District’s Board of Education.

              Staff recommends that the Board of Regents approve the proposed first revision to the School’s first renewal charter of the Charter School of Educational Excellence. 

Recommendation

VOTED:  That the Board of Regents approves the revision to the first renewal charter of the Charter School of Educational Excellence, and the provisional charter is amended accordingly.

Reasons for Recommendation

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

Timetable for Implementation

The Regents action for the Charter School of Educational Excellence is effective immediately.