Meeting of the Board of Regents | July 2009
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THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK / ALBANY, NY 12234 |
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TO: |
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FROM: |
Johanna Duncan-Poitier |
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SUBJECT: |
Charter Schools: Proposed Revision to the First Renewal Charter for KIPP Academy Charter School
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DATE: |
July 24, 2009
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STRATEGIC GOAL: |
Goals 1 and 2 |
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AUTHORIZATION(S): |
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SUMMARY
Issue for Decision
Should the Regents approve the staff’s recommendation concerning the proposed revision to the renewal charter for the KIPP Academy Charter School (New York City)?
Background Information
We received a request from the Chancellor of the city school district of the City of New York to revise the charter of KIPP Academy Charter School (KACS or “the School”). The School was approved on May 4, 2000 to convert in Community School District (“CSD”) 7 in September 2000. In April 2005, the School was renewed for 5 years. The School is located in the South Bronx and serves 260 students in grades 5 through 8. The School seeks to revise its grade configuration to grades K through 12 (See Attachment 1); to co-locate grades 9 through 12 with KIPP Infinity Charter School, KIPP Always Mentally Prepared Charter School and KIPP S.T.A.R. College Prep Charter School in CSD 5; to create a Memorandum of Understanding between KIPP NYC, LLC and the School governing administrative and operations support; and, to revise its admissions criteria and preferences.
The School proposes to begin serving grade K in September 2009. The School further seeks “expand its charter to open a high school (grades 9-12).” The School’s board of trustees will serve with the boards of trustees of the other KIPP schools to form a Joint High School Committee. Each board of trustees will maintain its own “exclusive and absolute responsibility and authority over its schools” with respect to employee hiring and termination; student discipline issues; complaints; student-specific data information; and budgets. Each board of trustees will be entitled to one vote on the Joint High School Committee. A majority vote will be required to set policy and make decisions for the co-located high school grades. The School will hire one principal for the grades K-4. The Schools will share staff and administrators for the high school grades based on their percentage of enrolled students. The principals of each grade level (elementary, middle, high) will report to the KACS board of trustees. KACS proposes to apply an “at-risk” admissions preference to all seats. KACS would designate those students eligible for free and/or reduced-price lunch as “at-risk of academic failure.”
The New York City Department of Education held a public hearing on November 6, 2008 regarding the proposed revision. No public comments were made or received.
Recommendation
VOTED: That the Board of Regents approves the revision to the first renewal charter of the KIPP Academy Charter School as proposed by the Chancellor of the city school district of the City of New York, and the provisional charter is amended accordingly.
Reasons for Recommendation
The proposed revisions to the School’s renewal charter, along with the other terms of the charter: (1) meet the requirements set out in Article 56 of the Education Law, and all other applicable laws, rules and regulations; (2) will permit the charter school to operate in an educationally and fiscally sound manner; and; (3) are 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 KIPP Academy Charter School will be effective immediately.
Attachment 1
Approved Enrollment Plan
KIPP Academy Charter School
2008-2009
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GRADE |
STUDENTS |
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Fifth |
70 |
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Sixth |
65 |
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Seventh |
62 |
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Eighth |
60 |
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Total |
257 |
Revised Enrollment Plan
KIPP Academy Charter School
2009-2010 through 2013-2014*
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GRADE |
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2009-10 |
2010-11* |
2011-12* |
2012-13* |
2013-14* |
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Kindergarten |
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80 |
80 |
80 |
80 |
80 |
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First |
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0 |
80 |
80 |
80 |
80 |
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Second |
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0 |
0 |
80 |
80 |
80 |
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Third |
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0 |
0 |
0 |
80 |
80 |
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Fourth |
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0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
80 |
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Fifth |
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70 |
70 |
70 |
70 |
70 |
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Sixth |
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65 |
65 |
65 |
65 |
65 |
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Seventh |
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62 |
62 |
62 |
62 |
62 |
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Eighth |
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60 |
60 |
60 |
60 |
60 |
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Ninth |
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45 |
45 |
45 |
45 |
45 |
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Tenth |
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0 |
41 |
41 |
41 |
41 |
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Eleventh |
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0 |
0 |
38 |
38 |
41 |
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Twelfth |
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0 |
0 |
0 |
35 |
35 |
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Total |
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382 |
503 |
631 |
736 |
816 |
* The charter runs through September 1, 2010. All data beyond that date is for information purposes only.