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

 

TO:	EMSC-VESID Committee
FROM:	James A. Kadamus
SUBJECT:	Charter School Applications and Proposed Charters
DATE:	December 5, 2005
STRATEGIC GOAL:	Goals 1 and 2
AUTHORIZATION(S):

 

SUMMARY

 

Issues for Decision

 

Should the Regents approve staff recommendations on the applications submitted to the Board of Regents as the direct charter entity to establish the Elmwood Village Charter School in Buffalo and the Harlem Success Charter School, New York City, and the proposed charters for four schools which have been submitted by the Chancellor of the New York City Public Schools?

 

Reason(s) for Consideration

 

          Required by State statute, Education Law 2852.

 

Proposed Handling

 

These questions will come before the EMSC-VESID Committee on December 8, 2005 for action.  They will then come before the full Board for final action on December 9, 2005.

 

Procedural History

 

Under the New York Charter Schools Act of 1998, the Board of Regents is authorized to make recommendations regarding the renewal of existing charters, on applications submitted directly to it as a charter entity, and on proposed charters submitted by another charter entity.   Upon receipt of an application for renewal or for the establishment of a new charter school, or receipt of a proposed charter from another charter entity, the Board of Regents shall review such applications and proposed charters in accordance with the standards set forth in the Charter Schools Act.

 

Background Information

 

We have received two applications to establish a new charter school as a direct applicant to the Board of Regents.  The applications are for:

 

§       Harlem Success Charter School, New York City

§       Elmwood Village Charter School, Buffalo

 

The Elmwood Village Charter School would be located in the Elmwood Village section of Buffalo.  It will serve 125 students in grades K-4 during its first year, and expand to serve 175 students in grades K-6 by the third year of its charter.    It will integrate the arts and humanities and technology. Its instructional program will be modeled upon that of the Tapestry Charter School, also in Buffalo.  Multi-age classroom groupings, based upon identified student learning needs, will be a part of the program.  There will be no management partner.

 

The Harlem Success Charter School (HSCS) would be located in the Harlem section of Manhattan in New York City.  Success for All Foundation, Inc. will serve as the School’s institutional partner. It will serve 155 students in kindergarten and first grade during its first year, and expand to serve 475 students in grades K-5 by the fifth year of its charter.  HSCS intends to implement New York State curriculum using the Success for All school educational program.  The program at the School is to feature cross-curricular, theme-based instruction; reading and writing across the curriculum; technology integration; a focus on community resources; and character growth and teamwork.

 

We also have four proposed charters from the Chancellor of the New York City Public Schools.  The Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education (“the Chancellor”) approved these applications for the following schools and submitted a proposed charter to the Board of Regents in October 2005.  Under the provisions of Education Law §2852, the Board of Regents must either approve the proposed charter or return it to the Chancellor for reconsideration with their written comments and recommendations.  The proposed charters are for:

 

§       Community Roots Charter School

§       Democracy Preparatory Charter School

§       East New York Preparatory Charter School

§       South Bronx Classical Charter School

 

The Community Roots Charter School would be located in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn.  It will serve 100 students in grades K-1 during its first year and expand to serve 300 students in grades K-5 by the fifth year of its charter.  The instructional program provides an integrated studies curriculum linking reading, writing, social studies, geography, the arts, math, technology and science.  The School will incorporate elements of backward design and multiple intelligences research for purposes of improving teaching and assessment.  The Brooklyn Academy of Music will be the institutional partner.

 

The Democracy Preparatory Charter School would be located in the Harlem section of Manhattan in New York City.  The School will maintain a partnership with Democracy Builders and Building Excellent Schools.   It will serve 135 students in grade 6 during its first year, and expand to serve 518 students in grades 6-10 by the fifth year of its charter.  The School intends to “provide a rigorous academic program focused on the knowledge, skills and character necessary to master core academic subjects in preparation for success in college and in citizenship.”  It will have an extended day.  The School intends to implement an inclusive, heterogeneous educational model to serve all students.

 

The East New York Preparatory Charter School would be located in the East New York section of Brooklyn.  It will serve 100 students in grades K-1 during its first year and expand to serve 381 students in grades K-5 by the fifth year of its charter.  The School’s founder is a fellow of the Building Excellent Schools organization based in Boston.  The instructional program emphasizes literacy and numeracy, high expectations for all students, recruiting and retaining master teachers and using research-based curricula.  There will be no management partner. 

 

The South Bronx Classical Charter School would be located in New York City CSD 7/Region 9 or CSD 9/Region 1.  It would serve 120 students in grades K-1, and it has no institutional partner or management company.  By its fifth year, the School would serve 360 students in grades K-5.  The applicant, who is also the proposed school leader, was a fellow with Building Excellent Schools, a national non-profit organization that trains and supports individuals and groups in designing and leading urban charter schools.

 

The Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education had submitted applications in October 2005 for six additional proposed charters for action by the Regents at their December meeting.  On December 5, we received letters requesting that action for the following schools be postponed until the January Regents meeting:

 

·       Achievement First Endeavor Charter School, New York City

·       Hyde Leadership Charter School, New York City

·       International Leadership Charter School, New York City

·       Lower East Side Charter School for Leadership Excellence, New York City

·       Riverview Lighthouse Charter School, New York City

·       Ross Global Academy Charter School, New York City

 

The following table summarizes the number of new charters that may still be issued by charter entities in New York:

 

 

 

Recommendation

 

          Staff recommend that the Board of Regents take the following actions:

 

VOTED:  That the Board of Regents approve the following applications:

 

§       Harlem Success Charter School, New York City

         

VOTED:  That the Board of Regents deny the following applications:

 

§       Elmwood Village Charter School, Buffalo

 

VOTED:  That the Board of Regents approve the following proposed charters:

 

§       Community Roots Charter School, New York City

§       Democracy Preparatory Charter School, New York City

§       East New York Preparatory Charter School, New York City

§       South Bronx Classical Charter School, New York City

 

Timetable for Implementation

 

The Regents action will become effective on December 9, 2005.

 

 

New York State Education Department

 

Summary of Proposed Charter

 

Summary of Applicant Information

 

Name of Proposed Charter School:  Harlem Success Charter School (HSCS)

 

Address:  To be determined

 

Applicant(s):  John Petry

 

Anticipated Opening Date:  September 5, 2006

 

District of Location:  New York City – CSD 5/Region 10

 

Charter Entity:  Board of Regents

 

Institutional Partner(s):  Success for All Foundation, Inc. (SFA)

 

Management Partner(s):  None

 

Grades Served:  K – 1 (K – 5)

 

Projected Enrollment:  155  (475)

 

Proposed Charter Highlights

 

Applicant(s)

 

The lead applicant, John Petry, is a partner at Gotham Capital and the Co-Founder and Manager of the Value Investors Club.com website.  Mr. Petry earned a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.  At Gotham Capital, Mr. Petry has been a co-founder and partner in several investment vehicles, including Gotham Asset Management and Gotham Select Fund. Beginning in the 2002-2003 school year, Mr. Petry oversaw the implementation of $2.5 million in funds that his partner at Gotham Capital, Joel Greenblatt, committed to PS 65Q in Ozone Park, Queens. Mr. Petry has monitored the results of implementing an enhanced version of Success for All at PS 65Q.

 

Institutional Partner(s)

 

The institutional partner, Success for All Foundation, Inc., will assist HSCS in fulfilling its overarching goal to improve student learning and achievement.  SFA is a not-for-profit organization that provides professional development services and materials for comprehensive school reform and instructional programs.  SFA “embraces the philosophy that all children can learn and that schools can ensure that virtually all children, especially those at risk, will learn to read and write.” The partner’s role will be strictly supportive. SFA will not play any role in the management of HSCS.  SFA intends to provide HSCS with research-based curriculum materials, professional development in instructional strategies and in the use of assessment data to guide instruction, on-going coaching and technical support, Leadership Academy training for administrative staff, assessment and data-monitoring tools, classroom management techniques, a tutoring component which is to include materials, training, and support, as well as on-going family involvement and community support components.  The Chairman for SFA, Dr. Robert Slavin, will be on the Board of Trustees at the HSCS.

 

Management Partner(s)

 

None.

 

Curriculum/Assessment/Instruction

 

§     The Harlem Success Charter School states its mission is, “To provide New York City elementary students with the knowledge, skills, character, and disposition to meet and exceed New York State standards and give them the resources to lead and succeed in the school and community at large.”

§     HSCS intends to implement New York State curriculum using the Success for All school educational program.

§     The SFA program at HSCS is to feature cross-curricular, theme-based instruction; reading and writing across the curriculum; technology integration; a focus on community resources; and character growth and teamwork.

§     The SFA program at HSCS will include KinderCorner, Stepping Stones and Kinder Roots (the literacy components of the kindergarten program), Reading Roots, Reading Wings, and Math Wings.

§     Social skills and conflict resolution will be taught through Getting Along Together and parental and community involvement will be addressed through Solution Teams.

§     HSCS will use a longer school year of 185 days and a longer daily schedule from 8:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

§     With the anticipation of allowing additional time on core subjects, the academic program at HSCS will include 100 minutes per day for English Language Arts (ELA), and 70 minutes per day for mathematics.

§     All core subjects at HSCS will total more than 20 hours per week, including a foreign language (Spanish).

§     HSCS will measure active pedagogy by teaching reading and writing across the curriculum, using regular and frequent assessment data from multiple measures, grouping students for reading class according to instructional levels, offering cooperative learning classrooms embedded throughout the program with focus on individual accountability, equal opportunity for success, and team recognition.

§     HSCS states, “Art and music will meet weekly for all grades and follow the state standards and performance indicators for instruction.  Physical Education will meet three times weekly for all grades.”

§     Technology instruction will be integrated into each of the core subject areas.

§     Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) and Career Development and Occupational Studies (CDOS) will be integrated into the Social Studies, Science and Physical Education programs.

§     HSCS will mandate targeted tutoring every morning for students who they deem to need the extra tutoring, based on their performance on Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI) assessments.

§     HSCS will educate students with disabilities in the least restrictive environment, with their non-disabled peers to the extent appropriate and allowed by each student’s individualized education plan (IEP) prepared by the Committee on Special Education (CSE) of the student’s school district of residence and all applicable federal laws, including the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

§     HSCS shall serve any and all students with limited English proficiency using structured English language immersion through the use of the School’s services and teaching methods.

 

Governance

 

§     HSCS shall be governed by a Board of Trustees with final authority for policy and operational decisions of the School pursuant to Education Law §2853(1)(f).

§     The Board shall appoint a principal and delegate day-to-day administration and decision-making to that individual.  The Principal shall oversee the overall operations of the School and report directly to the Board.

§     Subject to approval by the Board of Trustees, the Principal shall appoint a Business Manager, who shall be responsible for the financial operations of the School and will also appoint an Assistant Principal (by the third year of operation) who shall assist the Principal in day-to-day academic concerns of the School.

§     The number of Trustees shall not be fewer than five (5) and shall not exceed eleven (11); in addition, an ex officio seat is reserved for a parent of an enrolled student in HSCS.

§     Trustees will be elected to serve terms of three (3) years.  All Trustees shall be eligible for re-election.

§     The Board of Trustees shall meet at least bi-monthly. 

§     Robert Slavin, Chairman of the SFA Foundation, which is partnering with HSCS, will recuse himself during Board voting concerning the School’s relationship with SFA.

§     HSCS plans for and expects an active role for parents in the governance of the School; the School will establish a Parent Association.

 

Students

 

§     HSCS will serve 155 kindergarten and first grade students in the first year and 475 kindergarten through fifth graders in year five; each year the School will add 80 kindergarten students.

§     Kindergarten students must turn 5 by December 1^st of their kindergarten year.

§     Each kindergarten class will have 20 students; other grades will have a maximum of 25 students per class.

§     HSCS will not provide an enrollment preference for students “at-risk” of academic failure since the majority of students in Harlem fall into this category (based on poverty, defined as qualifying for the federal free- and reduced-priced lunch programs).

§     HSCS intends to serve students with similar demographic profile as CSD 5; students attending traditional public schools are predominantly African American (~69%) and Latino (~29%).

§     The students will be selected by a blind, random lottery.  Preference will be given to students living in the New York City School District.  Students with siblings enrolled in the School receive preference over waiting list candidates who do not have siblings enrolled. 

 

Budget/Facilities

 

§     HSCS plans to lease space from an existing New York City Department of Education (DOE) school facility with rent costs of $1 annually.

§     HSCS states, “If HSCS needs to lease private space at any point during the terms of our charter, the Board will aggressively conduct fund raising activities to cover any potential costs, while it continues to look for suitable permanent space in a District facility.”

§     The first-year budget anticipates total revenue to equal $2,166,162 and year five to equal $6,084,221.

§     Anticipated expenditures include SFA fees, which are budgeted at $2,000 per student/year, fees will total $300,000 year one and $900,000 in year five.

§     HSCS anticipates a surplus of $1,028 at the end of year one and a surplus of $962,934 in year five.

§     Founding Board Member, Joel Greenblatt, has pledged to fully finance budgetary shortfalls and to make up any deficit not raised from other sources during the charter period of HSCS.

§     The School anticipates an annual contribution of $20,000 into a contingency fund, with an additional $75,000 in escrow for dissolution in year two.

§     HSCS anticipates a $90,000 start-up grant as well as additional supplemental funding from the City of New York at $391 per elementary school pupil and $443 per middle school pupil enrolled.

 

Personnel

 

§     Iris Nelson, the former principal of PS 65Q, will assume the role of founding principal at HSCS.

§     HSCS intends to hire school leaders and faculty who are willing to act not only as curricular and subject-area specialists but also as “caring adult mentors and facilitators of students’ understanding.”

§     In addition to administrative staff, HSCS will employ the following staff: 7 general education teachers (11, 16, 20 and 24 in years two through five, respectively), 1 assistant teacher (2 each in years three and four, and 3 in year five), 4 full time specialty teachers (P.E., arts, music, Spanish; 6 and 7 in years four and five, respectively), 1 special education teacher (2 year two and three, 3 each, in years four and five).

 

Fiscal Impact

 

§       When fully enrolled with 475 students, HSCS will take .027% of the District’s budget (see Potential Fiscal Impact Chart below).

§       Programmatic and fiscal audits will comply with all requirements of public schools.  The School will employ a New York State licensed public accountant or certified public accountant to perform the fiscal audit.  In addition, the School will ensure that the audit is conducted in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) issued by the U.S. Comptroller General.

 

Potential Fiscal Impact of

Harlem Success Charter School

(New York City CSD 5/Region 10-Central Harlem/Manhattan)

School Year	Number of Students	Projected Payment*	Projected Impact
2005-06	155	$1537,593	.0085%
2006-07	235	$2,436,093	.0131%
2007-08	315	$3,412,344	.0178%
2008-09	395	$4,471,525	.0227%
2009-10	475	$5,619,122	.0277%

*Assumes a 3 percent annual increase in the district’s budget from a 2004-2005 base of $17 billion and a 4.5 percent annual increase in the average expense per pupil, per year from the 2004-2005 final average expense per pupil of $9,084.

 

Community Support

 

§     HSCS has collected 291 parent signatures from interested parents whose children will be entering kindergarten and first grade in September 2006.

§     Letters of support have been submitted from the following persons: David A. Paterson, Senate Majority Leader; John M. Palmer, Harlem Hospital Center; Ruben Gonzales, CEO, The Valley, Inc.

 

Recommendation

         

Approve the application.

 

Reasons for Recommendation

 

1) The charter school described in the application meets the requirements set out in Article 56 of the Education Law, and all other applicable laws, rules, and regulations; (2) the applicants can demonstrate the ability to operate the school in an educationally and fiscally sound manner; and (3) granting the application 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.

 

New York State Education Department

 

Summary of Proposed Charter

 

Summary of Applicant Information

 

 

 

Name of Proposed Charter School:  Elmwood Village Charter School

 

Address:  To be determined

 

Applicant(s):  Mary Joan Barnes-Copolla, Marguerite Battaglia-Evans, Kerry Buell, Elizabeth Evans, Greta Massetti, and Anne Wechsler.

 

Anticipated Opening Date:  September 2006

 

District of Location: Buffalo City School District                  

 

Charter Entity:  Board of Regents

 

Institutional Partner(s):  None

 

Management Partner(s): None

 

Grades Served:     K-4 (K-6)               

 

Projected Enrollment: 125 (175)

 

 

 

Proposed Charter Highlights

 

 

Applicants

 

          Ms. Barnes-Copolla is the coordinator of the Special Education Training and Resource Center for the Buffalo Public Schools.  She is also an adjunct professor in the Graduate Education Department of Canisius College.

 

          Ms. Battaglia-Evans was until July 2004 the Special Education and Reading Coordinator at the Enterprise Charter School in Buffalo.

 

          Ms. Buell is a teacher at the Enterprise Charter School in Buffalo.

 

          Ms. Evans is the Technical Services Librarian at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery Library in Buffalo.

 

Dr. Massetti is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the State University of New York at Buffalo.

 

Ms. Wechsler is a teacher at the Enterprise Charter School in Buffalo.

 

Institutional/Management Partner

 

          None

 

Curriculum/Assessment/Instruction

 

§       The proposed charter school will offer small class sizes (maximum of 25) in a multi-age setting.

§       Multi-age programs will be developed based upon identified needs rather than by grade.

§       The multi-age grouping presumes that students learn best through a process of social interaction that allows them to alternate between the roles of mentor and student in relation to their different-aged peers.

§       The proposed charter school will implement the Responsive Classroom model as well as the Cooperative Discipline model.

§       The proposed charter school will use a combination of constructivist and systematic approaches.

§       The proposed charter school will draw upon the rich cultural, historic and educational resources available in Buffalo and the region to enhance the School’s educational program.

§       A focus of the School will be social responsibility and community.

§       Each day will start with a Morning Meeting on the classrooms.  This is a daily routine that builds community, creates a positive climate for learning, and reinforces academic and social skills.

§       The school day will run from 8:30AM – 3:30 PM.  Optional before- and after-school care is yet to be determined.

§       Longer daily periods are provided for in the core subjects of ELA and math, with tutoring and enrichment opportunities.

§       Periods for art, music, foreign languages, physical education, and technology are provided on alternate days.

§       Project-based learning, an interdisciplinary curriculum, and the integration of the arts are hallmarks of the proposed educational program.

§       As a goal, the proposed charter school projects that it will have a greater percentage of its students score at Level 3 and Level 4 that its district of location for every applicable New York State assessment, by its fourth operational year. 

§       All New York State assessments will be given.

§       The TerraNova exams and the SAT-10 will also be given.

 

Governance

 

§       The Board of Trustees will consist of seven persons who represent the areas of education, finances, a founder, two parents, a community leader, and a local business representative. 

§       Trustees will serve staggered three-year terms.

§       A PTA and Board advisory committees will be established.

§       The School will hire a director as its lead administrator.

 

Students

 

§       The proposed charter school will open with 125 students in grades K-4, and expand to 175 students in grades K-6 by the third year of its charter, and remain at that level for the duration.

§       The School will have open enrollment.

 

Budget/Facilities

 

§       The proposed charter school assumes a start-up budget (through June 30, 2006) with $128,000 in both expected revenues and expenses.

§       Start-up revenues are based upon anticipated bank loans and grants.

§       A projected budget for the initial year of operation (July 1, 2006 – June 30, 2007) shows expected revenues of $1,197,615 and expected expenditures of $1,183,760, for a surplus of $13,855.

§       A specific site has yet to be determined.

§       The founders of the proposed charter school are working with a real estate agency to secure a suitable building with the Elmwood Village district of Buffalo.

 

Fiscal Impact

 

§       The approval of the proposed charter school would cause the potential fiscal impact upon the Buffalo Public Schools to be above 11% in its first year of operation. 

§       The projected fiscal impact on the Buffalo Public Schools, singly and collectively, is shown in the following table: 

 

 

 

Potential Fiscal Impact* of Charter Schools

on the Buffalo City School District

2006-11**

 

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

**Assumes all charter schools currently operating in Buffalo will also be operating five years from now, except for COMMUNITY.

 

Personnel

 

§       A minimum of nine teachers will be hired in the first year, 10 in the second year, and 11 teachers thereafter.

§       The Buffalo Public Schools will provide special education personnel.

 

Community Support

 

§       The application includes evidence that parents of 126 age-eligible students have indicated an interest in sending their children to this proposed charter school.

 

Recommendation

 

Deny the application.

 

Reason for Recommendation

 

The projected cumulative fiscal impact upon the Buffalo Public Schools would be too high.

New York State Education Department

 

Summary of Proposed Charter

 

Summary of Applicant Information

 

Name of Proposed Charter School:  Community Roots Charter School (CRCS)

 

Address:  To be determined

 

Applicant(s):  Allison Keil

 

Anticipated Opening Date:  September 7, 2006

 

District of Location:  New York City – CSD 13/Region 8

 

Charter Entity:  Chancellor, New York City Department of Education

 

Institutional Partner(s):  Brooklyn Academy of Music

 

Management Partner(s):  None

 

Grades Served:  K-1 (K-5)                   

 

Projected Enrollment:  100 (300)

 

Proposed Charter Highlights

 

Applicant(s)

 

          The lead applicant, Allison Keil, is a Literacy Consultant for the Community Partnership School in Brooklyn.  Ms. Keil completed the Educational Leadership Internship at Beginning with Children Charter School in Brooklyn.  The applicant has taught first and second grade for five years in New York City.  The applicant has also implemented the Success For All reading program while teaching second grade at PS 30.   The applicant is a graduate of the Bank Street College of Education and Brown University.  Ms. Keil was a member of the Teach for America program. 

 

Institutional Partner(s)

 

          The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a cultural institution, located in the Fort Greene neighborhood in Brooklyn, which held its first performance in 1861.  BAM operates as a non-profit corporation providing educational and cultural programs for the New York City community in many cultural areas including dance, theatre, music, film, and more.  BAM is an internationally recognized leader in the field of cultural performance and is identified as an exemplar of arts education programming by the Dana Foundation.  The institutional partner has provided educational programs to New York City public Schools for over 35 years. 

 

BAM will provide CRCS with an arts enrichment program consisting of the following elements: residencies – three teaching artists will be in residence each school year specializing in dance, music, and theatre; grade-level collaborations – weekly meetings between teachers on the same grade level to plan and develop lessons and workshops to reinforce the curriculum of CRCS; professional development – artists in residence will design a professional development workshop for teachers to facilitate curriculum integration; and performances – residency students will participate in two programs: AfricanDanceBeat and AfricanMusicBeat. 

           

Management Partner(s)

 

None.

 

Curriculum/Assessment/Instruction

 

§       The mission of the Community Roots Charter School (CRCS) is to provide, “a rigorous K-5 learning community where learning is embedded in meaningful real world context, and where children are deliberately taught to see the connections between School and the world.  CRCS students will meet or exceed the New York State standards and be prepared to excel in the 21^st century by being taught to be independent thinkers and to work productively within a diverse group of learners.  At CRCS, students will learn to combine curiosity with appropriate application of knowledge, which will lead them to have the knowledge, skills and confidence to take on challenges to become who they want to be.” 

§       The educational philosophy, or core programmatic elements, of CRCS is rooted in the belief, “that people learn best by doing things embedded in meaningful and interesting contexts…” The School will use an integrated studies curriculum linking reading, writing, social studies, geography, the arts, math, technology and science. 

§       The proposed charter school will implement the principles of culturally responsive teaching and establish culturally responsive classrooms.

§       The extended day program of the School, on a weekly basis, will provide over 8 hours of instruction in English language arts for kindergarten and more than 9 hours for students in grades 1 through five.  Students will receive five hours of instruction in math and nearly four hours of instruction in science.  

§       The School will use Understanding By Design to refine curriculum and assessment on an ongoing basis.

§       The School will use guided reading, literature circles, shared reading, independent reading, read aloud, classroom libraries and word study to build literacy.

§       The School will use Orton-Gillingham, Wilson, or Reading Recovery materials for the reading program.

§       For mathematics instruction, the School will use the TERC Math Program.

§       For science instruction the School will use FOSS.  FOSS is the Full Option Science System, created in the late 1980s by curriculum developers at the Lawrence Hall of Science in partnership with Encyclopedia Britannica Educational Corporation and hundreds of educators around the country, supported by the National Science Foundation. Delta Education now publishes the FOSS materials.

§       The School will provide instruction in health, physical education and consumer sciences.

§       CRCS will administer all assessments required by New York State and the No Child Left Behind Act.  The School will also administer QRI (Qualitative Reading Inventory) or DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment); in-house exit outcomes, FOSS Science Assessments for grades 1 through 5; and TERC Math Assessments for grades 1 through 5.

§       The School’s academic day will be from 8:05 a.m. – 3:45 p.m. on Monday through Friday.  On Mondays, teachers will participate in Professional Development sessions following dismissal.  Tuesday through Friday, CRCS will provide enrichment activities for students. 

§       Enrichment activities include homework help, visual arts, performance arts, physical education, and chess.  The Brooklyn Academy of Music will provide enrichment support services for the proposed charter school.

§       The School proposes a 185-day school year.

§       The average class size will be 25. 

 

Governance

 

§       The Board of Trustees will serve as the governing authority of the School and will be directly accountable to the charter, authorizer, and mission of the School.

§       CRCS proposes to govern this School with a Board of Trustees charged with oversight for financial and management decisions. 

§       The Board does not exceed the State Education Department requirement that no more than forty (40) percent of the members be affiliated with another organization.

§       No governance positions are set-aside for parents.  Parents, however, may become members of the Board of Trustees.

§       Qualifications for Board members include experience in financial, legal, business, fundraising, management, governance, real estate development or education. 

§       The Board includes the following standing committees: Executive, Finance and Educational Accountability. 

§       The initial Board of Trustees consists of 8 voting members.

§       The minimum number of Board members is 7.  The maximum number is 21.   

 

Students

 

§       In Year 1, the School will serve 100 students: kindergarten (two classes of 25) and grade 1 (two classes of 25).  In Years 2 through 5, the School will add 50 students to the incoming kindergarten class.

§       The students will be selected by a blind, random lottery.  Preference will be given to students living in the New York City School District.  Students with siblings enrolled in the school receive preference over waiting list candidates who do not have siblings enrolled. 

§       The School anticipates serving 100, 150, 200, 250 and 300 students in Years 1 through 5, respectively.  The School estimates a retention rate that exceeds the district average of 94.1% and an attendance rate that exceeds 95%. 

§       The School has provided a statement of assurances concerning services to students with disabilities will comply with the requirements of all federal and state regulations.

§       CRCS’ approach to the education of English Language Learners (ELL) will be structured immersion. 

§       All oral and written communication to families of students identified as ELL students will be translated into the family’s native language to the extent possible.

 

Budget/Facilities

 

§       The School’s first-year anticipated budget total is $991,996.  The start-up budget is for $360,000.  The applicant anticipates a budget surplus of roughly $8,000 entering the first year of the charter.  The applicant anticipates a balanced budget in each year of the operation of the charter. 

§       The School anticipates the Board of Trustees raising $70,000 in start-up, $35,000 in Year 1 and $50,000, annually, in Years 2 through 5.  The School anticipates raising $300,000 annually beginning in Year 3. 

§       The budget anticipates $85,000 in start-up funds from the New York City Center for Charter School Excellence and an additional $70,000 in Year 1. 

§       The salary for the School’s Co-Directors is budgeted at $80,000 each.  The business manager will be paid $60,000 per year.

§       The budget provides for teachers to be paid $55,000 per year.  The Special Education Coordinator will earn $65,000. 

§       The proposed charter school anticipates receiving space in a New York City Department of Education school.  The applicant is engaged in conversations with the New York City Department of Education to secure a facility through Year 4 of the charter.

§       The proposed charter school has budgeted $100,000 for a lease in Year 5.  The property would be developed as part of an agreement with the Fifth Avenue Committee, a community-based non-profit, to build a multi-use facility in Fort Greene.

 

Personnel

 

§       During Year 1, the School will be staffed by two Co-Directors, a business manager, a .41 FTE Director of Program Development, an administrative assistant, a school aide, four general education teachers, one special education teacher, four teaching assistants, two specialty teachers (art and science), and one Speech and Language specialist and a social worker. 

§       In Year 2, the School will be staffed by two Co-Directors, a business manager, .41 FTE Director of Program Development, an administrative assistant, a school aide, six general education teachers, one special education teacher, six teaching assistants, three specialty teachers (physical education, arts and science), and one Speech and Language specialist and 1.5 FTE social worker. 

§       In Year 3, the School will be staffed by two Co-Directors, a business manager, a full- time Director of Program Development, an administrative assistant, a school aide, eight general education teachers, two special education teachers, eight teaching assistants, a media/technology teacher, and two Speech and Language specialists and 1.5 FTE social worker. 

§       In Year 4, the School will be staffed by: two Co-Directors, a business manager, a full-time Director of Program Development, an administrative assistant, a school aide, ten general education teachers, five special education teachers, ten teaching assistants, a music teacher, and two Speech and Language specialists and two social workers.  

§       In Year 5, the School will be staffed by two Co-Directors, a business manager, a full- time Director of Program Development, an administrative assistant, a school aide, twelve general education teachers, two special education teachers, twelve teaching assistants, five specialty teachers, and three Speech and Language specialists.  The School will add a nurse and custodian and two social workers.

§       The School will contract for the services of a nurse during Years 1 through 4.

§       The proposed Co-Directors are Allison Keil and Sara Stone.

 

Fiscal Impact

 

§       When fully enrolled with 300 students, the charter school will receive no more than 0.0175% of the New York City Department of Education budget (See Potential Fiscal Impact Chart).

§       Programmatic and fiscal audits will comply with all requirements of public schools.  The School will employ a New York State licensed public accountant or certified public accountant to perform the fiscal audit.  In addition, the School will ensure that the audit is conducted in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) issued by the U.S. Comptroller General.

 

Potential Fiscal Impact of

Community Roots Charter School

(New York City CSD 13/Region 8 – Brooklyn)

* Assumes a 3 percent annual increase in the district’s budget from a 2004-2005 base allocation of $17.0 billion, and a 4.5 percent annual increase in the average expense per pupil per year from the 2004-2005 final average expense per pupil of $9,084.

 

Community Support

 

§       More than 115 signatures from parents with school-age children were collected on the Parent Petition of Support to support the projected opening enrollment. 

§       The School has received letters of support from 10 community-based organizations and/or elected officials serving the educational, cultural, business and political interests of the target community.

§       The following individuals and/or organizations have provided letters of support:

• Letitia James, Member, City Council, City of New York
• Ginnie Cooper, Executive Director, Brooklyn Public Library
• Brenda Awe, Project Director, Builders for Family and Youth, Diocese of Brooklyn, Inc.
• Georgianna Close, Executive Director, Fort Greene Strategic Neighborhood Action Partnership
• Gretchen Maneval, Director of Housing Development, Fifth Avenue Committee
• Kara Gilmore, Fort Greene Park Coordinator, City of New York Parks and Recreation Department
• Lucy N. Friedman, President, The After School Corporation
• G. Niobe Ngozi, Director of Education, Brooklyn Children’s Museum
• John D. Snyder, Dean of the Graduate School of Education, Bank Street College
• Dr. Suzanne Youngerman, Director, Department of Education and Humanities, Brooklyn Academy of Music

 

Recommendation

 

Approve the application.

 

Reasons For Recommendation

 

1) The charter school described in the application meets the requirements set out in Article 56 of the Education Law, and all other applicable laws, rules, and regulations; (2) the applicants can demonstrate the ability to operate the school in an educationally and fiscally sound manner; and (3) granting the application 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.

 

 

New York State Education Department

 

Summary of Proposed Charter

 

Summary of Applicant Information

 

Name of Proposed Charter School:  Democracy Preparatory Charter School (DPCS)

 

Address:  To be determined

 

Applicant(s):  Seth Andrew

 

Anticipated Opening Date:  July 24, 2006 (for staff) and August 21, 2006 (for students)

 

District of Location:  New York City – CSD 5/Region 10

 

Charter Entity:  Chancellor, New York City Department of Education

 

Institutional Partner(s):  DPCS will maintain a formal partnership with Democracy Builders and Building Excellent Schools (BES). 

 

Management Partner(s):  None

 

Grades Served:  6 (6 – 10)

 

Projected Enrollment:  135 (518)

 

Proposed Charter Highlights

 

Applicant(s)

 

The lead applicant, Seth Andrew, has completed a one-year fellowship at Building Excellent Schools, a national non-profit organization that trains and supports individuals and groups in designing and leading excellent urban charter schools. Mr. Andrew was an Administrative Fellow and Special Education Teaching Consultant at the Amistad Academy Charter School. Mr. Andrew earned a M.Ed. in School Leadership & School Development from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a B.A. in Educational Studies and Public Policy & American Institutions from Brown University.  Mr. Andrew founded the Democracy Builders Foundation and has also assumed the role of the Foundation’s Director.  Beginning in 2001, Mr. Andrew has assumed a variety of roles in public schools; these roles include the following:  English Teacher/Seminar Leader in South Korea; Leadership Intern/Project Coordinator, Social Studies Teacher/Special Education Mentor, Inclusion Specialist/History Teacher, and Inclusion Specialist in various public schools in Massachusetts.  Mr. Andrew is a graduate of the New York City public schools.

 

 

 

Institutional Partner(s)

 

DPCS will maintain a formal partnership with Democracy Builders and Building Excellent Schools (BES).  Both are national non-profit organizations; neither will assume governance responsibilities for the School.  Democracy Builders will provide the following resources to the School: fundraising to support Saturday School, Summer Academy, Civic and College Expeditions, field trips, and college scholarships.  Building Excellent Schools will provide the following services to the School: Teacher Search and Selection Support, School Leader Continuing Training and Development, Pre-Opening and Post-Opening School Audits, Funding to Governing Board Transition Support, Key Leader Continuing Training, Access to BES’ Knowledge Base and Fellowship Trainings.  

 

Management Partner(s)

 

None.

 

Curriculum/Assessment/Instruction

 

§       Democracy Preparatory Charter School states its mission is, “To educate responsible citizen-scholars in grades 6-10 for a life of active citizenship and success in the college of their choice.”

§       DPCS intends to “provide a rigorous academic program focused on the knowledge, skills and character necessary to master core academic subjects in preparation for success in college and in citizenship.”

§       DPCS states that its three paramount goals will be “academic excellence, mission advancement, and organizational strength.”

§       DPCS will have an extended day; students will attend school Monday through Thursday from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., until at least 1:30 on Fridays and two Saturdays each month.

§       Missing homework assignments will result in mandatory attendance at the Homework and Tutoring Center from 4:30-6:30 p.m. and from 7:00-7:45 a.m. the next day.

§       The DPCS school year will be extended; the school year will have a minimum of 200 days.

§       Students in need of tutoring, individual support, or remediation will attend school on additional Saturdays and during some vacations for a total of up to 33 additional “Opportunity Days.”

§     The School will establish baseline scores at the pre-opening Preparation Academy.

§     As the School grows, DPCS will have teachers loop with students for two years; each two-year academy will have no more than two hundred students.

§     DPCS will measure academic progress using city, state, national and internally developed assessments.

§     Beginning at the end of seventh grade (year 3 of the charter), DPCS students will be required to prepare and present a College Preparation Portfolio (CPP) to demonstrate growth in areas of Respect, Enthusiasm, Achievement, Citizenship, and Hard Work (REACH).

§     DCPS has adopted History Alive, Saxon Math, and FOSS Delta Science as core text.

§     DCPS will design its own curricula for English Language Arts (ELA), Civics, and math problem solving; the School intends to base curricula decisions on best practices of individual high performing schools and from a selection of available curricula.

§     DCPS states it will implement an inclusive, heterogeneous educational model to serve all students, including students with disabilities, language proficiency barriers, and/or special circumstances that put them at risk for academic failure.

§     DCPS states it will comply with all applicable laws and legal precedents specifically related to English Language Learners (ELLs) and will include ELLs in every aspect of the educational program.

 

Governance

 

§       The Board of Trustees will serve as the governing authority of the School and will be directly accountable to the charter, authorizer, and mission of the School.

§       The Board of Trustees will have five standing committees: Executive, Academic Accountability, Governance, Finance, and Development, which will receive counsel and support from their national, local, and family advisory boards.

§       The Trustees will hire, oversee, and evaluate the Head of School, who will be the leader ultimately accountable for the three paramount goals.

§       The Dean of Curriculum and Instruction, the Dean of Students and Families, as well as the Director of Operations will be held accountable to the Head of School.

§       The number of Trustees shall not be fewer than five (5) and shall not exceed fifteen (15).

§       The head of School shall be a Trustee of the Board of Trustees but shall have no voting rights.

§       Trustees will be elected to serve terms of two (2) calendar years.  All Trustees shall be eligible for re-election; no elected trustee will shall serve more than three (3) consecutive two-year terms, unless the Board of Trustees designates otherwise.

§       The Board of Trustees shall meet at least nine (9) times per year.

 

Students

 

§       DPCS will serve 135 sixth grade students in the first year and 518 sixth through tenth graders in year 5; each year an additional 108 sixth graders will be enrolled.

§       Sixth grade will be the primary entry point at DPCS. The School anticipates that the August before 7^th grade will be the last significant entry point into the School.

§       DPCS intends to serve students with similar demographic profile as CSD 5; students attending traditional public schools in CSD 5 are predominantly African American (~69%) and Latino (~29%).

§       The students will be selected by a blind, random lottery.  Preference will be given to students living in the New York City School District.  Students with siblings enrolled in the School receive preference over waiting list candidates who do not have siblings enrolled. 

§       The students will be required to wear a school uniform.

 

 

 

Budget/Facilities

 

§       DPCS plans to lease space from an existing New York City Department of Education (DOE) school facility with rent costs of $1 annually.

§       DPCS states, “If the [NYC] Department of Education has not made a formal offer of space to the Democracy Prep Board by June 30^th, 2006, the Board has committed to signing a lease with a landlord on the private market.”

§       If a DOE space is not provided, the Board will cut costs as outlined in their contingency plan.

§       DCPS’s budgeting model assumes the core academic program will operate exclusively with public funds, including per-pupil allocation, start-up grants, and federal entitlement grants; the model assumes high attrition and zero fundraising.

§       DCPS will maintain a budget surplus each year, a 2% contingency fund, and carryover funds to be reserved for facility upgrades.

§       DCPS will hire an independent auditing firm each year to evaluate cash flow, retrospective budget, and financial controls.

§       The first-year budget anticipates total revenue to equal $1,740,425 and year 5 to equal $6,041,880.

§       The first-year budget anticipates total expenses to equal $1,706,576 and year 5 to equal $5,812,159.

§       DCPS’s Strategic Fund Development Plan calls for fundraising goals from individuals, foundations, government grants, and corporations that range from $115,000 in year 1 to $435,000 in year 5.

§       DCPS has been approved a $19,820 grant from The Walton Family Foundation, Inc.

§       DCPS has budgeted to receive a $90,000 start-up grant as well as additional supplemental funding from the City of New York at $443 per middle school pupil enrolled.

 

Personnel

 

§       Seth Andrew, the lead applicant, is expected to assume the role of Head of School.

§       DPCS administrative staff will include the following: Head of School, Dean of Curriculum and Instruction, Dean of Students and Families, and Director of Operations.

§       In addition to administrative staff, DPCS will employ the following: Core Academic Staff, to teach math, science, English and social studies; Connection Faculty, to include part-time instructors and full-time staff in the areas of special education, arts, technology, foreign language, health, social work, teaching fellows, electives, tutoring, and extracurricular activities.

§       Professional development will be delivered throughout the year including 14 pre-service (summer) days, 9 school-year full days, 29 half days, and outside programs and courses chosen by individual teachers as well as planning and collaboration periods scheduled for every teacher every day.

 

Fiscal Impact

 

§       When fully enrolled with 518 students, the DPCS will take .030% of the District’s budget (see Potential Fiscal Impact Chart below).

§       Programmatic and fiscal audits will comply with all requirements of public schools.  The School will employ a New York State licensed public accountant or certified public accountant to perform the fiscal audit.  In addition, the School will ensure that the audit is conducted in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) issued by the U.S. Comptroller General.

§       On a programmatic basis, DCPS states, that it “expects to influence area public schools by setting high behavioral expectations, placing a greater emphasis on academic excellence, and preparing all students to meet and exceed state regents standards using less money and the same facilities.”

 

Potential Fiscal Impact of

Democracy Preparatory Charter School

(New York City CSD 5/Region 10-Central or West Harlem/Manhattan)

School Year	Number of Students	Projected Payment*	Projected Impact
2005-06	135	$1,339,194	.0074%
2006-07	230	$2,384,261	.0128%
2007-08	332	$3,596,503	.0188%
2008-09	427	$4,833,775	.0245%
2009-10	518	$6,127,801	.0302%

* Assumes a 3 percent annual increase in the district’s budget from a 2004-2005 base of $17 billion and a 4.5 percent annual increase in the average expense per pupil, per year from the 2004-2005 final average expense per pupil of $9,084.

 

Community Support

 

§          DPCS has collected 188 parent signatures from interested parents whose children will be entering grade six in September 2006.

§          Each student will have an Advisor who will serve as the primary point of contact for 12-13 families.

§          Letters of support have been submitted from the following persons: Congressman Charles B. Rangel; NAACP Mid-Manhattan; Milagros Vicente- CB 12 Ed Chair; Comptroller William Thompson; Let’s Get Ready For College, Fran Mack- CB 9 Ed Committee; Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum; Shulte, Roth, & Zabel LLP, Yasmin Cornelius- CB 10 Dist. Manager; Manhattan Borough Pres. C. Virginia Fields; Winifred Jackson- CB 10 Ed Chair; State Senator David Paterson; Harlem Education Roundtable; Joe Negron- Principal KIPP Infinity; State Senator Eric Schneiderman; Convent Ave. Baptist Church; Traci Douglass- NDS of Harlem; Assembly Member Keith Wright; Harlem Youth Soccer League; Kathy Elmont- Children’s Storefront; Assembly Member Scott Stringer; Civic Builders; Dan Tan- CFO- Teach for America; Assembly Member Adriano Espaillat; Museum of Natural History; Jon Alford- KIPP Foundation; City Council Speaker Gifford Miller; Brainstorm After School; Dr. Rafael Lantigua- NY Presbyterian; City Council Ed. Chair Eva Moskowitz; Interactive Therapies Group; Josef Mittlemann- Silverstein Properties; City Council Member Robert Jackson; Agency for Child Services; Melvin Alston- Community Organizer; City Council Member Miguel Martinez; Columbia University; Rashaan Harris-Atlantic Philanthropies; City Council Member Philip Reed; Community Technology; Dawn Jones- Community Board 10; City Council Member Gale Brewer, Say YES to Education; Geoff Eaton-NAACP Mid-Manhattan; District Leader Maria Luna, Wash. Heights Inwood Coalition; Carlotta Demanda- CB 9 Ed Chair, Community Board 9M; Children’s Art & Science; Wilson Cano-Children’s Arts & Science; Community Board 10M; STRIVE New York; Eric Neutuch- Let’s Get Ready, Community Board 12M; Northern Manhattan Improvement Corp.; and Randy Quezada- NY Immigration Coalition. 

 

Recommendation

 

Approve the application.

 

Reasons for Recommendation

 

1) The charter school described in the application meets the requirements set out in Article 56 of the Education Law, and all other applicable laws, rules, and regulations; (2) the applicants can demonstrate the ability to operate the school in an educationally and fiscally sound manner; and (3) granting the application 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.

 

 

 

New York State Education Department

 

Summary of Proposed Charter

 

Summary of Applicant Information

 

Name of Proposed charter school:  East New York Preparatory Charter School (ENYPCS)

 

Address:  To be determined.  The applicant is seeking a facility, in collaboration with the New York City Department of Education, in Region 5, District 19 (the East New York neighborhood in Brooklyn).

 

Applicant(s):  Sheila Joseph, Esq.

 

Anticipated Opening Date:  September 6, 2006

 

District of Location:  New York City – CSD 19/Region 5

 

Charter Entity:  Chancellor, New York City Department of Education

 

Institutional Partner(s):  None

 

Management Partner(s):  None

 

Grades Served:  K-1 (K-5)                   

 

Projected Enrollment:  100 (381)

 

Proposed Charter Highlights

 

Applicant(s)

 

          The lead applicant, Sheila Joseph, is a fellow of Building Excellent Schools (BES), a Boston-based not-for-profit organization, which is “focused on improving elementary and secondary education by providing support for designing, launching and sustaining charter schools.”  Ms. Joseph was a New York City Teaching Fellow for three years beginning in 2001.  Prior to serving as a Teaching Fellow, the applicant worked as a Law Guardian for The Children’s Law Center from 1999 to 2001.  Through BES, the applicant has received 900 hours of training in school management, strategic planning and fiscal management.  The fellowship provided an additional 100 hours of training in board governance.  The applicant is an attorney who received her law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center, an M.S. in education from Queens College in New York, and a B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley. 

 

Institutional Partner(s)

 

None.

 

Management Partner(s)

 

None.

 

Curriculum/Assessment/Instruction

 

§       The mission of the East New York Preparatory Charter School (ENYPCS) is, “to address the specific needs and challenges of children in East New York to ensure students achieve or exceed grade-level mastery of academic content, knowledge, and skills.  The School will provide a rigorous and NYS Standards aligned curriculum, disciplined environment, and supportive community, where students are academically and socially prepared to excel in demanding college preparatory high schools.”

§       The educational philosophy, or core programmatic elements, of ENYPCS is a mixture of values that include high expectations for all students, extending the school day and school year, recruiting and retaining master teachers, issuing frequent assessments, focusing on literacy, using research-based curricula, establishing a code of conduct, parental involvement and authentic applications for students in grades 3 – 8 to apply classroom knowledge to the real world.

§       The School will focus on literacy and provide 180 minutes of instruction every day in kindergarten through grade two and 100 minutes per day thereafter.  The School will use a balanced literacy approach with a significant focus on phonics using Open Court Reading and Junior Great Books.

§       For mathematics instruction, the School will use the Saxon Math Program or the Singapore Math curriculum as its fundamental program. 

§       For science instruction, social studies, music and art, the proposed School will utilize the Core Knowledge Sequence.  Science instruction will be supplemented using FOSS for hands-on, engaging experiments.  FOSS is the Full Option Science System, created in the late 1980s by curriculum developers at the Lawrence Hall of Science in partnership with Encyclopedia Britannica Educational Corporation and hundreds of educators around the country, supported by the National Science Foundation. Delta Education now publishes the FOSS materials.

§       The School will provide instruction in health, physical education and consumer sciences. 

§       Teachers will use the Unified Blackboard System.

§       ENYPCS will administer all assessments required by New York State and the No Child Left Behind Act.  The School will administer nationally normed exams (Stanford Ten or Test of NYS Standards) in ELA and math, beginning in kindergarten. 

§       The School will administer the ECLAS and i-know™ assessment (from CTB-McGraw Hill) for students in grades K-3.  Students scoring above Level 5 on the ECLAS may be administered the E-PAL 2 and E-PAL 3 in grades 2 and 3, respectively. 

§       The School’s academic day is from 8:00 – 4:30 p.m. on Monday through Thursday.  On Friday afternoon, students are dismissed at 2:45 p.m.

§       The School will provide tutoring, Homework Club (for students failing to complete assignments of the previous day) and additional support services from 3:30 until 4:30 p.m.

§       The School calendar provides 8.5 hours per week of independent and team planning for teachers.  In addition, teachers will receive 15 days of professional development before the school year and 40 afternoon sessions during the school year.

§       Friday afternoons (2:45 – 4:30), following the early student dismissal, will be dedicated to professional development.

§       The School proposes a 190-day school year.

§       The average class size will be 25. 

 

Governance

 

§       ENYPCS proposes to govern this School with a Board of Trustees charged with oversight for financial and management decisions. 

§       The School Director and Business Manager will serve on the Board of Trustees.

§       Qualifications for Board members include experience in financial, legal, business, fundraising, management, governance, real estate development or education. 

§       No governance positions are set-aside for parents.  Parents, however, may become members of the Board of Trustees.

§       The Board includes the following committees: Governance (Executive), Fundraising, Facilities, Finance, Community Support, Audit and Education. 

§       The initial Board of Trustees consists of 11 voting members.

§       The minimum number of Board members is 11.  The maximum number is 15.   

 

Students

 

§       In Year 1, the School will serve 50 students each, in kindergarten (two classes of 25) and grade 1 (two classes of 25).  In Years 2 through 5, the School will add 75 students to the incoming kindergarten class.

§       The students will be selected by a blind, random lottery.  Preference will be given to students living in the New York City School District.  Students with siblings enrolled in the School receive preference over waiting list candidates who do not have siblings enrolled. 

§       The School has assumed an attrition rate of five percent in its fiscal and enrollment plans.  Under this scenario, the School anticipates serving 100, 175, 247, 316 and 381 students in Years 1 through 5, respectively.

§       The School has provided a statement of assurances concerning services to students with disabilities and will comply with the requirements of all federal and state regulations.

§       ENYPCS’ approach to the education of English Language Learners (ELL) will be structured immersion. 

§       All oral and written communication to families of students identified as ELL students will be translated into the family’s native language to the extent possible. 

§       Additional support for ELL students may include modified English language instruction, pull-out intensive tutoring in English, push-in services by a teacher or aide fluent in the native language of the student, home visits by a staff member who speaks the language of the student and other support services.

 

 

 

 

Budget/Facilities

 

§       The School’s first-year anticipated budget total is $1,375,797.  The start-up budget is $290,000.  The applicant anticipates a budget surplus of nearly $25,000 entering the first year of the charter.

§       The School anticipates a $150,000 Federal PCSP Grant, a $90,000 New York City Operations grant, $70,000 from the New York City Center for Charter School Excellence in Year 1 and $50,000 during the Start-Up Phase.

§       The proposed charter school anticipates receiving space in a DOE School.  The budget reserves $51,000 for rent.   ENYPCS budgeted $10,000 for renovations and repairs and $5,000 for maintenance supplies.  The proposed charter school is engaged in conversations with the New York City Department of Education to secure a facility.

§       The salary for the School Director is budgeted at $100,000.  The School will hire an Instructional Coach in Year 1 and Year 3.  The salary for this position is budgeted at $75,000.

§       The budget provides for teachers to be paid at the following rates: Master Teachers - $50,000; Junior Teachers, grades - $40,000; Special Education Teachers - $52,000; Specialty Teachers - $30,000.  $25,000 has been budgeted for the services of substitute teachers, beginning in Year 3.  Additionally, the School budgeted $4,000 per tutor per year.

 

Personnel

 

§       During Year 1, the School will be staffed by the School Director, four Master Teachers, four Junior Teachers, one Specialty Teacher, one Special Education Teacher, an instructional coach, six tutors, .025 FTE social worker, a business manager and an administrative assistant. 

§       In Year 2, the School will convert the instructional coach to a principal for grades K-2, three Master Teachers, three Junior Teachers, one Special Education Teacher, four tutors and .25 FTE social worker.  The School will not retain an instructional coach in Year 2.

§       In Year 3, the School will add an instructional coach, three Master Teachers, one Junior Teacher, one Specialty Teacher, one substitute teacher, three tutors, a school aide, an administrative assistant and a .25 FTE social worker.

§       In Year 4, the School will convert an instructional coach to a principal for grades 3-5, three Master Teachers, one Special Education Teacher, one Junior Teacher, one
Specialty Teacher, two tutors, a school aide and a .25 FTE social worker.  The School will not retain an instructional coach in Year 4.

§       In Year 5, the School will add three Master Teachers, one Special Education Teacher, one substitute teacher, two tutors, and a school aide.  The School will not retain an instructional coach in Year 5.

§       The School will contract for the services of a nurse.

§       The proposed School Director is Sheila Joseph.

 

 

 

 

 

Fiscal Impact

 

§       When fully enrolled with 381 students, ENYPCS will receive no more than 0.0222% of the New York City Department of Education budget (See Potential Fiscal Impact Chart).

§       Programmatic and fiscal audits will comply with all requirements made of public Schools.  The School will employ a New York State licensed public accountant or certified public accountant to perform the fiscal audit.  In addition, the School will ensure that the audit is conducted in accordance with GAAP issued by the U.S. Comptroller General.

 

Potential Fiscal Impact of

East New York Preparatory Charter School

(New York City CSD 19/ Region 5 – Brooklyn)

* Assumes a 3 percent annual increase in the district’s budget from a 2004-2005 base allocation of $17.0 billion, and a 4.5 percent annual increase in the average expense per pupil per year from the 2004-2005 final average expense per pupil of $9,084.

 

Community Support

 

§       More than 110 signatures from parents with school-age children were collected on the Parent Petition of Support to support the projected opening enrollment. 

§       The School has received letters of support from 22 community-based organizations and/or elected officials serving the educational, cultural, business and political interests of central Brooklyn.

§       Several community organizations have pledged to support ENYPCS in recruiting parents and conducting outreach.

§       The following individuals and/or organizations have provided letters of support:

• Rosa Liverpool, Chairperson, Community Board #5, Education Committee
• Edolphus Towns, Member, United States House of Representatives
• Jessica Guilfoy, Project Manager, Educational Facilities Fund of New York – New York City LISC (Local Initiatives Support Corporation)
• Clifton Powell, Program Director – In School Youth Program, East New York Development Corporation
• Barbara Palley, School Programs Manager, Education, Brooklyn Museum
• Candace Howard, Associate Director, Educational Vocational Rehabilitation Program, Kings County Hospital Center
• Francesca Burgess, Children’s Cluster Specialist, Brooklyn Public Library
• Helen Jordan, Network Chairperson, Brownsville/East New York Child Welfare Neighborhood Network
• Dr. Suzanne Youngerman, Director, Department of Education and Humanities, Brooklyn Academy of Music
• Pedro Santiago, SFC USA, Station Commander – East New York Field Office, Department of the Army
• Paul Acinapura, General Counsel, Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A
• Jillian Rubio, Manager of Education Programs, Prospect Park Audubon Center at the Boathouse
• Paul Pearson, Vice President of Programs, Brooklyn Children’s Museum
• Dennis J. Taylor, Executive Director, The Sabaoth Group, Inc.
• Eze Van Buckley, Weed & Seed
• Dorothy Jones, Director, Elva McNeal Computer Learning Center
• Winchester Key, President and CEO, East New York Urban Youth Corps
• Richard Buery, Executive Director, Groundwork
• Charles Barron, Member, City Council, City of New York
• Beverly Houston, Program Director, Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City
• John B. Mattingly, Commissioner, Administration for Children’s Services
• Rosalind O’Neal, President, African-American/Caribbean Education Association, Inc.

 

Recommendation

 

Approve the application.

 

Reasons For Recommendation

 

1) The charter school described in the application meets the requirements set out in Article 56 of the Education Law, and all other applicable laws, rules, and regulations; (2) the applicants can demonstrate the ability to operate the school in an educationally and fiscally sound manner; and (3) granting the application 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.

 

 

New York State Education Department

 

Summary of Proposed Charter

 

Summary of Applicant Information

 

Name of Proposed Charter School: South Bronx Classical Charter School (SBCCS)

 

Address:  To be determined

 

Applicant(s):  Lester S. Long

 

Anticipated Opening Date: August 23, 2006

 

District of Location: New York City – CSD 7/Region 9 or CSD 9/Region 1

 

Charter Entity:  Chancellor, New York City Department of Education

 

Institutional Partner(s): None

 

Management Partner(s): None

 

Grades Served: K-1 (K-5)                              

 

Projected Enrollment:  120 (360)

 

 

Proposed Charter Highlights

 

 

Applicant(s)

 

Lester S. Long, the lead applicant, has completed a one-year fellowship at Building Excellent Schools, a national non-profit organization that trains and supports individuals and groups in designing and leading urban charter schools. He has also  served as a Resident at Uncommon Schools, Inc.  Mr. Long has several years of urban teaching experience and a background in financial management.  The founding Board has proposed that Mr. Long serve as the Executive Director for South Bronx Classical Charter School.

 

Institutional Partner(s)

 

None. 

 

Management Partner(s)

 

None.

 

Curriculum/Assessment/Instruction

 

§       SBCCS states, “The educational program will be logical, sequenced, and driven by a focus on literacy and core knowledge.” 

§       The School plans to provide a classical education, which in the early years will consist of a focus on a core curriculum; the development of strong literacy and numeracy skills; along with knowledge and understanding of elementary facts, with emphasis on higher level thinking in the later grades.  Additionally, in all grades the School will focus on the development of core knowledge in the basic subjects of reading, writing, math, science, and history. 

§       The language-based curriculum will be supported through the study of Latin, beginning in grade 3, to help students improve their English grammar and vocabulary skills as well as learn other languages.

§       The School will use SRA/Open Court Reading for English Language Arts.

§       The School will use the Saxon Mathematics program as the basis for mathematics instruction.

§       Core Knowledge will be used for history and Full Option Science System (FOSS) will be used for science instruction.

§       To serve ELL students, the School will use a structured English immersion program. 

§       SBCCS will use the NY State Education Department’s process for identifying students who are English Language Learners and use pull out sessions to provide instruction.  The School will provide all necessary staff and specialized curricular materials to enable ELL students to achieve proficiency.

§       Students from kindergarten to the second grade will be given an hour of daily instruction in character education and two hours per week in grades 3 to 5.

§       Will teach to the New York State Learning Standards.

§       Students will be required to adhere to a uniform dress code.

§       The School’s regular academic day will be 8:00 am -5:00 pm.

§       Mandatory tutoring and homework help will be provided to all students during the last hour of each school day.

§       The school year will be extended.  The School will provide a 202-day school year.

§       The class size will be 20.

 

Governance

 

§       The Board of Trustees is currently comprised of twelve members.  The Board will not have fewer than nine Trustees and no more than 13 Trustees.

§       The Executive Director will report directly to the Board of Trustees and will be responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the School.

§       The Board will have a standing Finance committee, chaired by the Treasurer.  The Chair will appoint additional members to this committee.

§       Board members will serve fully renewable, staggered terms of two years to ensure smooth transition of responsibility.

 

Students

 

§       In the first year the School will serve K-1, 120 students.

§       In the fifth year the School will serve K-5, 360 students.

§       In order to create a strong school culture, the School will only enroll students in Kindergarten after the first year unless required due to fiscal difficulties.  With a 5% annual attrition rate, the School’s enrollment in the fifth year may be between 330 and 360 students.

 

Budget/Facilities

 

§       The first-year budget for the School projects revenues of $1,667,841 and expenditures of $1,600,187, for a projected surplus of $67,654.

§       The School is engaged in a number of initiatives (with the South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation, the Archdiocese of New York and the New York City Department of Education), which it expects will result in the identification of incubation space suitable for at least 3 years’ use.

§       As the School establishes an operational history it will seek a permanent facility solution.  To date, three possible sites for permanent facilities have been identified.

 

Personnel

 

§       In the first year, the staff will include: an executive director, school principal, administrative associate, 7 teachers, 2 special education teachers, part-time nurse and a part-time custodian. 

§       The lead applicant, Lester Long, is the proposed Executive Director of the School.

§       The School will recruit teachers from a variety of sources, including Teach For America, New York City Teaching Fellows, New Leaders for New Schools, strategic website postings, professional job fairs, graduate schools of teaching, and outreach to selective businesses and industries.

 

Fiscal Impact

 

§       When fully enrolled with 330 students, SBCCS will take .022% of the District’s budget (see Potential Fiscal Impact Chart).

§       Programmatic and fiscal audits will comply with all requirements made of public schools.  The school will employ a New York State licensed public accountant or certified public accountant to perform the fiscal audit.  In addition, the School will ensure that the audit is conducted in accordance with GAAP issued by the U.S. Comptroller General.

 

 

Potential Fiscal Impact of

South Bronx Classical Charter School (SBCCS)

(New York City CSD 7/ Region 9 or CSD 9/Region 1 – Bronx)

School Year	Number of Students	Projected Payment*	Projected Impact
2005-06	120	$1,139,134	0.0065%
2006-07	177	$1,755,832	0.0097%
2007-08	231	$2,394,628	0.0129%
2008-09	282	$3,054,861	0.0160%
2009-10	330	$3,735,705	0.0190%

* Assumes a 3 percent annual increase in the district’s budget from a 2004-2005 base of $17 billion and a 4.5 percent annual increase in the average expense per pupil, per year from the 2004-2005 final average expense per pupil of $9,084.

 

Community Support

 

§       Approximately 185 signatures from interested parents whose children will be entering kindergarten and first grade in September 2006 were collected.

§       The School has received letters of support from local community groups:

§       Fordham University

§       The Bronx School for Law, Government and Justice

§       The Council of the City of New York – Eva Moskowitz

§       The Council of the City of New York – Maria Del Carmen Arroyo

§       The Council of the City of New York – Majority Leader Joel Rivera

§       MR Beal & Company: Investment Bankers & Financial Advisors

§       The Learning Disabilities Association of New York City

§       Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club, Inc.

§       Felipe Luciano

§       Kaye Scholer LLP

§       The New Bronx Chamber of Commerce, Inc.

§       Senator Rev. Ruben Diaz

§       Cathedral High School

 

Recommendation

         

Approve the application.

 

Reasons for Recommendation

 

1) The charter school described in the application meets the requirements set out in Article 56 of the Education Law, and all other applicable laws, rules, and regulations; (2) the applicants can demonstrate the ability to operate the school in an educationally and fiscally sound manner; and (3) granting the application 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.