SUMMARY

Issue for Decision

Should the Regents approve and issue the proposed charter of the Albany Leadership Charter High School for Girls (Albany)?

Background Information

We have received a proposed charter from the Trustees of the State University of New York (SUNY) for the establishment of the Albany Leadership Charter High School for Girls (“the School”).   The School will open in August 2010.  Initially, the School will serve 125 female students in grades 9-10 and grow to serve 375 female students in grades 9-12 in its fifth year of operation.  The School's mission is “to prepare young women to graduate from high school within four years of entry with the academic and leadership skills necessary to succeed in college and the career of their choosing.”  

The School does not have a management or institutional partner, but is adopting many elements from the Young Women’s Leadership School, a New York City Department of Education public school, including a shared set of core values, an all-girl education, a comprehensive college placement program, an advisory program, and leadership development.   Based on the application, the School will provide instruction from 8:00 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. for 200 days per academic year.  In addition to a program which meets the requirements for graduation with a Regents Diploma, the School will provide nine hours of English Language Arts and seven hours of math instruction per week.

The public hearing was held on November 13, 2008.  There were seven speakers including two who spoke of the burden charter schools put on the City of Albany and the Albany City School District, and five who spoke of the need for Albany girls to have a public choice in high school education.   Additionally, the Albany City School District submitted a letter in opposition to the approval of an additional charter school.  The letter asserts the Albany Leadership Charter High School would not provide a significant educational benefit to the students expected to attend, and the School would put an undue burden on the District.

Recommendation

              VOTED: That the Board of Regents approves and issues the charter of the Albany Leadership Charter High School for Girls as proposed by the Trustees of the State University of New York, and issues a provisional charter to it for a term of five years.

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; (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; and (4) approving and issuing the proposed charter will have a significant educational benefit to the students expected to attend the proposed charter school. 

Timetable for Implementation

The Regents action for the Albany Leadership Charter High School for Girls is effective immediately.

New York State Education Department

Summary of Proposed Charter

Name of Proposed Charter School:  Albany Leadership Charter High School for Girls

Address:  21 Hackett Boulevard, Albany, NY

Applicant(s):  Barbara Pryor and Margarita Mayo

Anticipated Opening Date:  August 17, 2010

District of Location:  Albany City School District

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

Institutional Partner(s):  N/A

Management Partner(s):   N/A

Grades Served:                      2009-2010:  planning year

2010-2011:  9-10

2011-2012:  9-11

2012-2013:  9-12

2013-2014:  9-12

Projected Enrollment:         2009-2010:  NA

2010-2011:  125

2011-2012:  225

2012-2013:  325

2013-2014:  375

Proposed Charter Highlights

Applicant

              The lead applicant, Barbara Pryor, is an Albany resident who has served the Albany community for more than 30 years by serving on numerous boards and committees.  She is a Board member and founder of the Capital Region Center for the Arts in Education, the Arts Center for the Capital Region, and the president of Two Together.  In the past, she has served on the boards of Saint Peter’s Hospital, The Sage Colleges, Planned Parenthood, Albany Girls Club, the Advisory Committee for the Rensselaer County Historical Society, The Milay Colony, and the Community Foundation for the Capital Region.   Ms. Pryor has served as president of the M.C. Lawton Club and an officer of the National Association of Colored Women’s Club. 

              The co-applicant, Margarita Mayo, is retired from the Business Council of New York State where she was responsible for developing the Council’s education reform agenda and policy development for education and job training issues.  She served as liaison with the State Education Department and the training staff of the Labor Department.   She works part-time for the New York Coalition for Education Reform and Accountability. 

Institutional Partner

              The School does not have an intuitional partner, but the School plans to work with the Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission and the Young Women’s Leadership Foundation (YWLF).  The YWLF partnered with the New York City Board of Education to open the Young Women’s Leadership School, an all-girls pubic high school in New York City.  The Young Women’s Leadership School serves students in grades 7-12 with a population which is 99 percent Black and Hispanic and 85 percent economically disadvantaged. The Young Women’s Leadership School has a 100 percent college acceptance rate for each of the last seven years.   The YWLF will assist in the creation and consult on the operation of the Albany Leadership Charter High School for Girls by providing technical assistance and professional development.

Management Partner

              N/A

Curriculum/Assessment/Instruction

• The School will be providing instruction to girls and provided research which documents the educational benefit of a single-sex school including information which is specific to an all-girls program.
• There is a comparable opportunity for boys at Green Tech High Charter School in Albany.
• The School has committed to an academic program to support graduation with a Regents diploma after four years of study and the opportunity for students to earn an Advanced Regents diploma.
• In addition to meeting units of study requirements in core curriculum areas, the School will provide nine hours of English language arts and seven hours of math instruction weekly. 
• The School provided a curriculum framework which addresses all learning standards, and is committed to working with the Department to align and finalize its curriculum. 
• The School has allotted three hours per week for academic support which will be used for tutoring, homework and study hall.
• The School has included a leadership development period for 90 minutes per week consisting of internship, community services, or on-site instruction.
• The School will have two hours of common planning time for all staff weekly.
• The application asserts the School will provide a significant educational benefit to the students attending the School by providing a high quality,  college preparatory education in a safe, small-school setting with an extended school day and longer school year; extensive literacy instruction; and programs that emphasize leadership, environmental awareness and technological proficiency.

Governance

• The School’s By-Laws provide for a board of trustees consisting of five to fifteen members. The application includes ten proposed members of the School’s initial Board of Trustees. 
• Trustees are committed to children and a high-quality results-oriented academic program.  
• Trustees represent individuals with skills and expertise in education, pubic policy, management, community and youth development; and non-profit governance. 
• The Board of Trustees will have three year terms, but the founding members will have terms ending after one, two or three years to create staggered changes in membership. 
• The officers of the Board of Trustees will consist of two co-chairs, a secretary, and a treasurer.

Students

• The School will provide the first public school choice for high school girls in the Capital Region.  
• The School’s promotional materials will be printed in English and Spanish.
• Promotional materials will include provisions for non-discrimination and the School’s interest in serving students with disabilities and who are English language learners.
• The School’s advertising will include fliers and public notices in newspapers, supermarkets, houses of worships, community centers, and organizations serving the disabled, and direct mail advertising to Albany residents.
• The School will accept timely application until close of business on April 1. 
• The School’s special education program meets the necessary requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

Budget/Facilities

• The School plans to rent a 44,000 square foot facility to be built at 21 Hackett Boulevard in Albany.  
• The School has received an award of up to $750,000  from the Brighter Choice Foundation to assist in covering the costs to establish and operate the School for the first three years of the charter.
• The School’s Year One projected start-up revenue will be $400,000 and will grow to $5,193,414 in Year Five. 
• The Year One budget anticipates total expenses of $384,050 and by Year Five of $5,033,637.
• The School anticipates an ending fund balance of $15,950 at the end of Year One and $159,777 at the end of Year Five.
• The School indicated that it will establish a dissolution fund of $75,000. The School will set aside $25,000 each year for the first three years of operation to meet this requirement.
• The School ensures that it will perform all programmatic and fiscal audits annually as required by the New York State Charter Schools Act, in accordance with auditing standards and Government Auditing Standards issued by the Comptroller General of the United States.
• 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 provided in their current charters; that the charter schools will be able to meet their projected maximum enrollment; that all students will come from Albany 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

Albany Leadership Charter High School for Girls

2009-10 through 2013-14

* Assumes a 3 percent annual increase in the District’s budget from the base of $ 206,741,488 in 2008-2009; and a 4.5 percent annual increase in the average expense per pupil per year from the 2009-20010 rate of $11,712.

Projected* Fiscal Impact of All Charter Schools in Albany

2009-10 to 2013-14.

Percent of Projected Impact Per Year

* Assumes a 3 percent annual increase in the District’s budget from the base of $ 206,741,488 in 2008-2009; and a 4.5 percent annual increase in the average expense per pupil per year from the 2009-20010 rate of $11,712. 

 Personnel

• The School will be led by a principal who will oversee the business manager, assistant principal, special education coordinator, office manager, leadership coordinator, library-media specialist and teachers.
• The School will hire teachers to provide instruction in English language arts, math, social studies, science, technology, physical education, health, arts, Spanish and special education.
• The School expects to hire certified teachers, but reserves the right to hire up to five teachers or 30 percent of the teaching staff without certification.  If the School employs non-certified teachers, they will meet the criteria for hire under §2854(3)(a-1) of the Education Law and will qualify as subject-based competent pursuant to the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act. 
• All the School’s special education staff and special education contract providers will be appropriately certified.
• The School will provide professional development to teachers to expand their knowledge of girls’ emotional, academic and physical needs and provide them with best practices for academic instruction and promoting a positive school culture. 

Community Support

• The School provided 80 signatures of students and parents of students who are eligible to enter the School’s first lottery.  
• The School provided 400 signatures of community residents in support of the School.

Public Opinion

• The Albany City School District sent a letter in opposition to the proposed School The letter stated “…(The) charter school will not provide a  significant education benefit to the students expected to attend, rather, it will continue to dilute opportunities for continued gains in achievement and success for the vast majority of high school-aged students who attend public school and destabilize the public school system far below what’s necessary to effectively education the majority of student who attend its schools…..”
• A public hearing was held on November 13, 2008.  Seven individuals attended the hearing and made comments. 
• Hearing comments included five comments in favor of the School made by two prospective board members of the School, two parents of a female high school students, and a fifth individual.
• Hearing comments included two comments against chartering an additional charter school in Albany.  The comments were made by two community residents.  One individual is a Common Councilman and Albany City School District parent and teacher.