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Meeting of the Board of Regents | January 2010

Monday, January 11, 2010 - 11:50pm

TO:

EMSC Committee

 

FROM:

John B. King, Jr.

SUBJECT:

Charter Schools: Proposed Charter for Icahn Charter School 5

DATE:

January 5, 2010

STRATEGIC GOAL:

Goals 1 and 2

AUTHORIZATION(S):

 

SUMMARY

Issue for Decision

Should the Regents approve and issue the proposed charter for Icahn Charter School 5 (New York City)?

Background Information

We have received a proposed charter from the Trustees of the State University of New York (SUNY) for the establishment of Icahn Charter School 5 (ICS5 or “the School”).  The School will open in September 2010.  Initially, the School will serve 108 students in grades K – 2 and grow to serve 252 students in grades K – 6 in its fifth year of operation.  The School's mission is “Icahn Charter School 5, using the Core Knowledge curriculum developed by E. D. Hirsh, will provide students with a rigorous academic program offered in an extended day [and] year setting.  Students will graduate armed with the skills and knowledge to participate successfully in the most rigorous academic environments, and will have a sense of personal and community responsibility.”  

The School’s institutional partner, the Foundation for Greater Opportunity, is currently in partnership with four charter schools in the Bronx.  ICS5 is a replication of those charter schools.  The School will provide instruction from 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. with 192 instructional days per academic year. 

The New York City Department of Education held a public hearing in CSD 9 on July 21, 2009 regarding this proposed charter application.  No comments were made or received. 

Additional information concerning this initial application may also be found on the Board of Regents website at http://www.regents.nysed.gov.

Recommendation

              VOTED: That the Board of Regents approves and issues the charter of the Icahn Charter School 5 as proposed by the Trustees of the State University of New York (SUNY) and issues a provisional charter to it for a term of five years, up through and including January 11, 2015.

Reasons for Recommendation

               (1) The charter school described in the proposed charter 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) approving and issuing the proposed charter 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. 

Timetable for Implementation

The Regents action for Icahn Charter School 5 is effective immediately.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New York State Education Department

Summary of Proposed Charter

Name of Proposed Charter School:  Icahn Charter School 5 (ICS5 or “the School”)

Address:  TBD

 

Applicant:  Julie Clark Goodyear

Anticipated Opening Date:  September 1, 2010

District of Location:  New York City Community School District 9, The Bronx

 

Charter Entity:  Trustees of the State University of New York (SUNY)

Institutional Partner:  Foundation for a Greater Opportunity, Inc.

Management Partner:   N/A

Grades Served:                      2010-2011:  K-2

2011-2012:  K-3

2012-2013:  K-4

2013-2014:  K-5

2014-2015:  K-6

 

Projected Enrollment:         2010-2011:  108

2011-2012:  144

2012-2013:  180

2013-2014:  216

2014-2015:  252

 

Proposed Charter Highlights

Applicant

              Julie Goodyear is the Executive Director of the Foundation for a Greater Opportunity and the Icahn Scholars Program.  Ms. Goodyear has worked at College du Leman in Versoix, Switzerland.  She was the Associate Director of Admissions at Choate Rosemary Hall from 1985-1995.  Ms. Goodyear has a B.A. from New York University and a M.A.L.S. from Wesleyan University. 

Institutional Partner

The Foundation for a Greater Opportunity (FGO) is a non-profit organization located in New York City.  FGO will advance the School start-up costs.  A subsidiary of the FGO, Greater Opportunity, L.L.C., was created to oversee the building of schools and will serve in that function to build the facility forICS5.  FGO is partnered with four other charter schools in the Bronx, which are the following (name of school – date of issuance – location):

Approved by the Board of Regents:

  • Icahn Charter School 1 (formerly known as Carl C. Icahn Charter School) – March 2001 –  CSD 9, the Bronx, NY
  • Icahn Charter School 3 (formerly known as Carl C. Icahn South Bronx) – January 2008 – CSD 8, the Bronx, NY
  • Icahn Charter School 4 – December 2008 – CSD 12, the Bronx, NY.

 

 Effective by operation of law:

  • Icahn Charter School 2 (formerly known as Carl C. Icahn Bronx North Charter School) – September 2006 – CSD 8, the Bronx, NY

 

Management Partner

             

N/A

Curriculum/Assessment/Instruction

 

  • The School intends to model itself on the Icahn Charter School 1 (ICS1).  ICS1, located in the south Bronx, has outperformed CSD 9 since 2005-2006.  ICS1, from 2005 through 2009, had 80 to 85 percent of third through eighth graders meet or exceed grade level standards in English language arts (ELA), with a Performance Indicator (PI) from 180 to 200, compared to CSD 9, which reported a proficiency of 35.1 to 57.2 percent, and a PI of 114 to 148.  In math, ICS1 reported proficiency of 96 to 98 percent for third through eighth graders with a PI of 197 to 199.  In CSD 9 the math proficiency ranged from 38.6 to 73.1 percent with a PI of 112 to 168 (See Attachment 1).
  • The School’s educational program is based on the program implemented by the four existing Icahn Charter Schools currently located in The Bronx.    
  • The School’s educational philosophy is to provide a rigorous academic program that will graduate students armed with the skills and knowledge to participate successfully in the most rigorous academic environments, with a sense of personal and community responsibility.
  • The School will provide instruction in each subject in the seven general curriculum areas and the proposed curriculum is aligned with all 28 New York State (NYS) learning standards.
  • The School’s curriculum is founded on E.D. Hirsch’s Core Knowledge, which combines different subject areas to reinforce the idea that children learn new knowledge by building on what they already know. 
  • In addition to all the mandated New York State (NYS) exams, the School will administer CTB/ McGraw Hill Fox in the Box, and Iowa Tests of Basic Skills. 
  • ICS5 will have a Targeted Assistance Program, developed to assist students on an individual basis in math and literacy.
  • The School will offer a Saturday Academy to provide remedial support for students identified as in need of additional support.   
  • ICS5 intends to offer intensive professional development to all teachers in the implementation of Core Knowledge. 
  • ICS5 will have a Pupil Personnel Committee (PPC) that will meet monthly to review the needs of at-risk students who will receive increased interventions.  The PPC will be comprised of a special education teacher, general education teacher, an administrator and a related service provider.
  • English language learner (ELL) services will follow a push-in model.
  • The School proposes a 192-day school year from September to July.
  • ICS5 will provide instruction from 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. on Monday through Friday.

 

Governance

 

  • The number of Board members shall be no less than five and no more than 25.
  • There will be ten members on the initial Board of Trustees (BOT).  One member will be an officer from the Parent Teacher Association.
  • Regular meetings of the BOT shall be held no fewer than nine times throughout the year.
  • The initial committees of the BOT shall be executive, financial and grievance.
  • The officers of the BOT are chair, vice chair, secretary and treasurer.

 

Students

 

  • ICS5 will serve 108 students in grades K – 2 in the first year of instruction and will grow to 252 students in grades K – 6 in its fifth year of instruction.   
  • The School anticipates a class size of 18 students with two classes per grade.  Each class will have one teacher.  The student-to-teacher ratio will be no more than 18:1.
  • The ICS5 recruitment efforts will include contacts with neighboring schools, day care centers, community boards, community based organizations and flyers.
  • The School will reach out to the community and nearby districts with information sessions held at locations within the community.
  • The School will advertise in community newspapers and make enrollment information available via the School’s website.  Additionally the School will distribute flyers, brochures and applications to elementary schools, community and social service organizations, children service organizations and churches.
  • The School’s recruitment plan includes strategies to advertise widely to families from the CSD, including English language learners (ELL) and students with disabilities (SWD).
  • The School anticipates the ages of students enrolled in grades K-6 will range between five and twelve.
  • The local population consists of 63 percent Hispanic, 34 percent Black, two percent Asian, one percent Other, with 10 percent eligible SWD, 24 percent ELL 82 percent of students in the targeted area are eligible for free- or reduced-price lunches.

 

Budget/Facilities

 

  • The School has not secured a facility, but it is in communication with the New York City Department of Education (NYC DOE) to occupy space in one of their facilities in CSD 9.
  • The School’s first year revenues are anticipated at $1,536,074 and will grow to $3,978,706 in Year Five. 
  • The Year One budget anticipates total expenses of $1,388,293 and will grow to $3,487,684 by Year Five.
  • The School anticipates an ending fund balance of $91,835 at the end of Year One and $1,127,834 at the end of Year Five.
  • The School intends to apply $25,000 per year towards its dissolution fund, starting in Year One through Year Three.
  • ICS5 ensures that it will perform all programmatic and fiscal audits annually as required by the New York State Charter Schools Act.
  • The potential fiscal impact upon the District is represented below.  Please note that these projections are based upon several assumptions, which may or may not occur: that all existing charter schools will also exist in the next five years and serve the same grade levels as they do now; that the charter schools will be able to meet their projected maximum enrollment; that all students will come from NYC and no other districts; that all students will attend everyday for a 1.0 FTE; that the District’s budget will increase at the projected rate; that the per pupil payment will increase (and not decrease); and that the per pupil payment will increase at the projected rate.

 

Projected Fiscal Impact of

Icahn Charter School 5

(New York City – CSD 9 – Bronx)

2010-2011 through 2014-2015

School Year

Number of Students

Projected Payment*

Projected Impact

2010-2011

108

$1,384,128

0.0077%

2011-2012

144

$1,900869

0.0102%

2012-2013

180

$2,447,369

0.0128%

2013-2014

216

$3,024,984

0.0153%

2014-2015

252

$3,634,979

0.0179%

* Assumes a three percent annual increase in the District’s budget from the base of $18.035 billion in 2010-2011; and a three percent annual increase in the average expense-per-pupil per year from the 2010-2011 rate of $12,819.

Personnel

 

  • The School will be led by a principal. 
  • The work of the principal will be supported by a financial manager.
  • The School will employ the following staff in its first year of instruction:  six classroom teachers (14 in Year Five); one part-time special education coordinator/teacher (full-time by Year Five); one targeted assistance teacher (four in Year Five); and one part-time ESL teacher (full-time by Year Five).
  • The Special Education teacher will be New York State certified in special education.
  • Staff will receive one and a half weeks of professional development in Core Knowledge before the School opens.
  • Jeffrey Litt, the superintendent of the Icahn Charter Schools, will provide training to the new teachers of ICS5 in the implementation of the Core Knowledge curriculum.  Mr. Litt is recognized as a Core Knowledge expert.  He has trained teachers and administrators globally, including individuals from Australia, Great Britain, Italy and Israel.

 

Community Support

 

  • The School provided information regarding the waiting lists from the other charter schools partnered with the Foundation for Greater Opportunity, in the borough of the Bronx.  Presently Icahn Charter School 1 in CSD 9 has over 900 names on its waiting list.

 

Public Opinion

 

  • The NYC DOE sent a letter and posted the notice on its website, notifying the public and independent schools in community school district 9 of the proposed application for Icahn Charter School 5 and inviting comments for the public hearing. 
  • The NYC DOE held a public hearing in CSD 9 regarding this proposed charter application on July 21, 2009.  No comments were made or received.

 

 

 

 

 


Attachment 1

Performance of NYS Charter Schools in partnership with the Foundation for a Greater Opportunity on the State ELA and Math Assessments compared to the school district of location

 

Percent of Students Scoring At or Above Level 3 on State Exams

Charter School

2005-2006

2006-2007

2007-208

2008-20009

 

3-8

ELA

3-8

MATH

3-8

ELA

3-8

MATH

3-8

ELA

3-8

MATH

3-8

ELA

3-8

MATH

Icahn 1

84.0

96.9

81.1

97.6

85.0

98

94.0

99.0

CSD 9

35.1

38.6

36.5

49.4

39.0

62.5

57.2

73.1

Icahn 2

-

-

NA

NA

NA

NA

100

100

CSD 8

40.4

49.0

40.4

57.2

50.5

68.0

63.3

76.2

Icahn 3

-

-

-

-

-

-

NA

NA

CSD 8

40.4

49.0

40.4

57.2

50.5

68.0

63.3

76.2

Icahn 4

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

CSD 12

34.1

44.9

33.7

52.8

41.9

63.0

54.3

71.4