Skip to main content

Meeting of the Board of Regents | July 2008

Tuesday, July 1, 2008 - 11:00pm

 

sed seal                                                                                                             

 

 

signature of Johanna Duncan-PoitierTHE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK / ALBANY, NY 12234

 

TO:

FROM:

Johanna Duncan-Poitier

SUBJECT:

Charter Schools: Proposed Charter for the Leadership Preparatory Flatbush Charter School

 

DATE:

July 25, 2008

STRATEGIC GOAL:

Goals 1 and 2

AUTHORIZATION(S):

 

 



SUMMARY


Issue for Decision

 

Should the Regents approve and issue the proposed charter of the Leadership Preparatory Flatbush Charter School (New York City)?


Reason(s) for Consideration

 

              Required by the State statute, Education Law §2852.

 

Proposed Handling

 

This question will come before the EMSC Committee in July 2008 for action.  It will then come before the full Board for final action in July 2008.

 

Procedural History

 

              The New York Charter Schools Act of 1998 requires the Board of Regents to review, in accordance with the standards set forth in Education Law §2852(2), proposed charters, renewal charters and revisions to charters and renewal charters that have been approved and submitted by other charter entities.  The Board of Regents may either approve and issue a charter, renewal charter and/or revision as proposed by the charter entity, or return the same to the charter entity for reconsideration with written comments and recommendations. 

Background Information

 

We received a proposed charter from the Trustees of the State University of New York (SUNY) for the establishment of the following charter school:

 

  •  Leadership Preparatory Flatbush Charter School

 

The Leadership Preparatory Flatbush Charter School (LPFCS or “the School”), would be located in New York City Community School District 17, in Brooklyn. The proposed effective date is March 1, 2009.  LPFCS will use 2009-2010 as a planning year, and will open August 2010.  The School will initially serve 116 students in grades K-1 and will grow to serve 272 students in grades K-4 by the fifth year of the initial charter. The School’s mission is “to ensure academic success for children in grades K through 8; to prepare students to excel in demanding high schools and colleges and to contribute to their communities as leaders.  Through educational success, the students earn opportunities in life for themselves and their communities.”  It is the intent of the School to model itself on the experience of other urban charter schools in Brooklyn, Excellence Charter School of Bedford Stuyvesant and Leadership Preparatory Charter School.  The management partner will be Uncommon Schools, Inc., which currently operates five charter schools in the borough of Brooklyn (see Attachment I).

 

Recommendation

 

VOTED: That the Board of Regents return the proposed charter of the Leadership Preparatory Flatbush Charter School to the Trustees of the State University of New York for reconsideration, and with the following comments and recommendations: the School must provide an assurance that  its curriculum will address and be aligned with all 28  New York State Learning Standards prior to opening for instruction; provide evidence of adequate community support for and interest in the charter school from parents of students eligible for enrollment in the first year of instruction that would be sufficient to reach its anticipated enrollment; and with respect to the mandatory Saturday instruction, provide a religious exemption for students.

 

Timetable for Implementation

 


The Regents action for the Leadership Preparatory Flatbush Charter School is effective immediately.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New York State Education Department

 

Summary of Proposed Charter

 

Name of Proposed Charter School: Leadership Preparatory Flatbush Charter School (LPFCS or “the School”)

 

Address: TBD

 

Applicant(s):  John B. King, Jr. and Olatokumbo Shobowale

 

Anticipated Opening Date: August 26, 2010

 

District of Location: New York City Community School District 17, Brooklyn, NY                      

 

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

 

Institutional Partner(s):  N/A

 

Management Partner(s): Uncommon Schools, Inc.

 

Grades Served:                      2009-2010: Planning Year

2010-2011: K-1

2011-2012: K-2

2012-2013: K-3

2013-2014: K-4

 

Projected Enrollment:         2009-2010: Planning Year

2010-2011: 116

2011-2012: 171

2012-2013: 223

2013-2014: 272

 

Proposed Charter Highlights

 


Applicants


 

John B. King, Jr. is employed by Uncommon Schools, Inc. as Managing Director of Excellence and Preparatory Networks.  Mr. King is the Co-Founder and former Co-Director for Curriculum and Instruction of Roxbury Preparatory Charter School.  Prior to co-founding Roxbury Prep, Mr. King taught high school history at City on the Hill Charter School in Boston and Saint John’s School in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  Mr. King earned a B.A. in Government from Harvard University, an M.A. in Teaching of Social Studies from Columbia University Teachers College, and a J.D. from Yale Law School.  Mr. King is currently pursuing a doctorate in Education Administration at Columbia University Teachers College.  In addition, Mr. King serves on the faculty and board of directors of New Leaders for New Schools, a national non-profit organization that trains results-oriented urban principals.


 

Olatokumbo Shobowale is the Executive Vice President of the New York City Economic Development Corporation.  He oversees business development strategic planning, telecommunications and economic research.  As Vice President, he coordinated an interagency effort to create a comprehensive industrial policy for New York City, which resulted in the creation of the Mayor's Office of Industrial and Manufacturing Business.  Mr. Shobowale earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Stanford University, a Master of Arts degree from Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, and a Master of Business Administration degree from MIT Sloan School of Management.


 


Institutional Partner

 

N/A

 


Management Partner

 

Uncommon Schools, Inc. (USI) is a not-for-profit organization that manages urban charter schools working to close the achievement gap in the Northeast.  In 2003, USI formalized its mission as a charter management organization with the goal of starting schools in the Northeast that create transformative college preparatory opportunities for low-income children.  Based in New York City, USI develops and manages regional networks of charter schools.  USI will provide Leadership Preparatory Flatbush Charter School with management over the program design and development; teacher recruitment; training for teachers, school leaders, and other staff; facility acquisition and financing; financial management; fund development; technology; legal counsel; marketing and advocacy.   Currently, USI manages five Charter Schools in Brooklyn (for performance data, see Attachment I), which are the following (name – date – location):

 

In effect by operation of law:

  • Excellence Charter School of Bedford Stuyvesant (formerly known as Bedford Stuyvesant Preparatory Charter School for Excellence) – May 2003 – Brooklyn, NY
  • Kings Collegiate Charter School (formerly known as Bedford Stuyvesant Collegiate Charter School)  – April 2006 – Brooklyn, NY
  • Leadership Preparatory Charter School – November 2005 – Brooklyn, NY

 

Approved by the Board of Regents:

  • Collegiate Charter School – January 2008 – Brooklyn, NY
  • Williamsburg Collegiate Charter School (formerly known as City Collegiate Charter School) – April 2005 – Brooklyn, NY

 

The management partner is currently seeking to manage the following proposed charter schools:

 

  • Excellence Charter School for Girls – Brooklyn, NY (Proposed opening date: August 27, 2009)
  • Leadership Preparatory Brownsville Charter School – Brooklyn, NY (Proposed opening date: August 26, 2010)
  • Leadership Preparatory East New York Charter School – Brooklyn, NY (Proposed opening date: August 27, 2009)

 


Curriculum/Assessment/Instruction


 

  • The School intends to prepare low-income, New York City students for success in college and beyond.
  • The School will be modeled after Leadership Preparatory Charter School in New York City and will reflect the strong elements of Roxbury Preparatory Charter School in Massachusetts.  The School will also draw from the successful practices and experiences of Excellence Charter School of Bedford Stuyvesant, Boston Leadership Preparatory Charter School, and North Star Academy Charter School located in New Jersey.
  • The proposed curriculum submitted is incomplete.  The application does not address all of the required curriculum areas, including Health, Physical Education, Family and Consumer Sciences, Technology, the Arts, Career Development and Occupational Studies, and Languages Other Than English.
  • LPFCS reports that in 2007, 49 percent of third graders and 34 percent of eighth graders in Flatbush demonstrated proficiency in the New York State ELA exam, while 78 percent of third graders and 31 percent of eighth graders demonstrated proficiency in the New York State math exam.
  • The School will employ several mandatory intervention and support strategies for students that are identified in need of additional help or at-risk of failure.  Examples are: an after-school program in which small group and one-on-one tutoring opportunities will be provided; double periods in English and Math; a summer school program, and; in Year Three, a Saturday school program.
  • LPFCS will administer assessments to identify student levels and needs.  In addition, there will be bi-weekly evaluations and reports concerning student progress toward the School’s academic and behavioral standards. 
  • The School will educate students with disabilities in the least restrictive environment within the general education population to the extent appropriate and allowed by each student’s Individualized Education Plan (IEP) and all applicable federal laws, including the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
  • The School will employ a structured immersion strategy to help English Language Learners (ELL) students achieve proficiency in the English language.  The extended instructional day will offer additional opportunities for ELL students to acquire proficiency in English.    
  • In addition to the mandated state exams under No Child Left Behind (NCLB), LPFCS will administer norm-referenced assessments in Reading and Math such as Terra Nova.
  • LPFCS will assess student progress towards achieving pre-determined goals through several School-developed interim assessments tri-annually: Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) for grades K-2; Early Reading Screening Instrument for kindergarten; Reading A-Z/The Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) for grades K-2, and; bi-monthly compositions. 
  • The school year will have 187 days, from August to the end of June.
  • The school day will begin at 7:30 am and end at 4:00 pm, Monday –Thursday.  On Friday, the school day will end at 1:25 pm.  This schedule will allow students 120 minutes more per week of instructional time than the New York City public schools schedule allows.
  • Over the course of the school year, LPFCS students will have had 297.5 additional school hours as compared to students attending New York City public schools.  This equates to nearly 50 additional school days.


 


Governance


 

  • The number of Trustees shall not be fewer than nine (9) and shall not exceed fifteen (15).
  • Trustees will be elected to serve a one-year term for a maximum of three years.  Parent Trustees are appointed for only one-year terms.
  • No more than 40 percent of trustees will be affiliated with the School as a compensated employee or contractor.  No more than two trustees will be affiliated with USI.  USI affiliates may not serve as chair or treasurer of the Board.
  • Regular meetings of the Board of Trustees shall be held bi-monthly throughout the year except for one month during the summer, and other times as the Board determines.
  • The initial committees of the Board of Trustees shall be Governance, Finance and Program.
  • Over forty percent of the Board of Trustees for the proposed charter school also serves on the Leadership Preparatory Charter School Board.
  • The officers of the Board of Trustees are Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer.


 


Students


 

  • LPFCS will serve 116 students in grades K-1 in the first year of instruction and will grow to 272 in grades K-4 in the fifth year. 
  • LPFCS will enroll 58 students per grade in its first year instruction.  Kindergarten and first grade will be divided into two classes each.
  • LPFCS will provide one lead teacher and one assistant teacher per class in grades K-2, and one lead teacher and one half-time assistant teacher per class in grades 3-4.
  • The school expects the student body to reflect the population of the target area, which in 2005-2006 were: 87 percent African-American; 10 percent Hispanic; 2 percent Asian or Other; and 1 percent White; 83 percent of the area public school children participated in the free/reduced lunch program
  • The School will be located in a community where over 30 percent of the population lives below poverty level.
  • LPFCS will reach out to the community and nearby districts with information sessions held at night and on weekends at the School and other locations within the community.
  • LPFCS will advertise through flyers, brochures and applications.  These efforts will be aimed at pre-kindergarten programs, elementary schools, community and social service organizations, and local businesses.
  • The School’s recruitment plan includes strategies to advertise widely to families from the community school district, including English Language Learners (ELL) and Students with Disabilities (SWD).
  • The School will enroll any child eligible under the guidelines of New York State Law and all other applicable laws. 
  • Initially, the School will enroll new students in kindergarten and first grade only. In subsequent years, it will enroll new students for kindergarten only and if the attrition rate is greater than 5 percent, the school will fill vacancies in grades 1-4 in accordance with its admissions policy. 


 


Budget/Facilities


 

  • The School is currently seeking a facility to house the proposed charter school.  The management partner has established a track record of securing space within NYC DOE facilities.
  • The School is pursuing alternatives to conventional lease/purchase arrangements that include securing unused parochial school space, underutilized NYC DOE space, and partnerships with other school-facilities organizations. 
  • The School has developed comprehensive contingency plans in the event fund-raising targets are not met.  Targets have been set based on conservative estimates of previous campaigns operated by the management partner.
  • The School’s Year Two (its opening year) revenue is $2,099,550 and will grow to $3,864,306 in Year Five.  The planning year revenue is $200,200. 
  • The School anticipates $115,000 in philanthropic contributions in Year One.
  • The School expects to carry forward a cash balance of $2,700 from the start-up budget.
  • The Year One budget anticipates total expenses of $197,500, with $2,058,500 during Year Two (its opening year) and by Year Five to equal $3,784,054.
  • The School anticipates an ending fund balance of $2,700 at the end of Year One and $249,387 at the end of Year Five.
  • The School intends to use $25,000 per year towards its dissolution fund, starting in Year Two through Year Four.
  • 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 the

Leadership Preparatory Flatbush Charter School

(New York City – CSD 17 – Brooklyn)

2009-10 through 2013-14

School Year

Number of Students

Projected Payment*

Projected Impact

2009-2010

 

 

 

2010-2011

116

 $               1,459,173

0.0066

2011-2012

171

 $               2,247,818

0.0099

2012-2013

223

 $               3,063,276

0.0131

2013-2014

272

 $               3,904,509

0.0163

*Assumes a 3 percent annual increase in the District’s budget from the base of $20.12 billion in 2007-2008; and a 4.5 percent annual increase in the average expense per pupil per year from the 2007-2008 rate of $11,023.

 


Personnel


 

  • During its planning year, the School will employ two adminstrators; one principal and one director of operations. 
  • In the first year of instruction, the School will also employ the following staff: nine classroom teachers (20.5 in Year Five); one special education coordinator/teacher (1.5 in Year Five); one Fine Arts teacher (1.7 in Year Five), and; one part-time Reading Intervention teacher (full-time in Year Five).
  • In addition, the School will employ a social worker/counselor (part-time in Year One and full-time thereafter), a dean of students and an office manager.
  • The decision to rehire a teacher in subsequent years is dependent upon his/her students’ academic outcomes.
  • The daily schedule will allow an early dismissal one day per week for the purpose of offering two hours of professional development to the staff.
  • Staff will receive four weeks of professional development in the summer prior to school opening. 
  • As an incentive to teach at LPFCS, teachers are provided with an annual professional development grant of up to $500 to pursue opportunities that will enhance their practice.  
  • The School’s student to teacher ratio will be 14 ½:1 in its first year of instruction (16:1 in Year Five).


 


 


 


 


 


Community Support


 

  • The School provided signatures of parent support.  However, none of the signatures provided evidence of student age, and/or grade level eligibility for enrollment to the School.
  • The School has received support from the following community leaders: Kevin Parker – 21st Senatorial District and Karim Camara – 43rd Assembly District; and several community organizations such as the Robertson Foundation and the Robin Hood Foundation.


 


Public Opinion


 

  • The New York City Department of Education sent a letter and posted a notice on its website, notifying the public and independent schools in Community School District 17 of the proposed application for Leadership Preparatory Flatbush Charter School, and inviting comments for the public hearing. 
  • A public hearing was held on Wednesday, April 15, 2008.  No comments were received.

 


Attachment I

Performance on ELA and Math State Assessments by all Charter Schools

in
New York State Managed by Uncommon Schools, Inc.

 

 

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

Charter
School

 

2004-2005

 

2005-2006

 

2006-2007

 

2007-2008

 

Gr. 4

ELA

Gr. 4

MATH

3-8

ELA

3-8

MATH

3-8

ELA

3-8

MATH

3-8

ELA

3-8

MATH

Collegiate Charter School

NA

NA

NA

NA

NA

NA

NA

NA

 

Excellence of Bedford Stuyvesant

 

 

 

NA

NA

NA

NA

92

100

93

100

Kings Collegiate

 

NA

NA

NA

NA

NA

NA

NA

NA

Leadership Preparatory

 

NA

NA

NA

NA

NA

NA

NA

NA

Williamsburg Collegiate

 

NA

 

NA

 

61

 

72

 

74

 

96

 

83

 

98