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

 

TO:	The Honorable the Members of the Board of Regents
FROM:	James A. Kadamus
COMMITTEE:	EMSC-VESID
TITLE OF ITEM:	Charter School Applications
DATE OF SUBMISSION:	January 27, 2005
PROPOSED HANDLING:	Approval
RATIONALE FOR ITEM:	Statutory Authority to Act on Charter Schools Applications
STRATEGIC GOAL:	Goals 1 and 2
AUTHORIZATION(S):

 

SUMMARY:

 

Under the New York Charter Schools Act of 1998, the Board of Regents is required to act upon proposed charters received from another charter entity within 60 days of such receipt.  We have one such proposed charter from the Board of Trustees of the State University of New York and one from the Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education.  The proposed charter from the SUNY Trustees is for:

 

·        Albany Preparatory Charter School, Albany

 

The Board of Regents had previously acted on this proposed charter when it was submitted as a direct application.  At its September 2004 meeting, the Board voted to deny the application because of fiscal impact on the district of location.  The applicants then submitted the application to the Board of Trustees of the State University of New York.  Although the proposed charter meets the criteria for general acceptance, the projected fiscal impact would be too great a burden for the district of location.

 

The proposed charter from the New York City Chancellor is for:

 

·        Hellenic Classical Charter School, NYC CSD 15

 

Complete copies of the proposed charters are available for your review by contacting James R. Butterworth at 518-474-4817 or Shelia Evans Tranumn at 718-722-2796.

 

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

 

SUNY Trustees	All Other Charter Entities
10	21

 

VOTED:  That the Board of Regents approve return the proposed charter of the following charter school to the Trustees of the State University of New York for reconsideration:, and extend its charter and provisional charter for five years, based upon the information contained in the attachments and upon a finding by the Board of Regents that:  (1) charter school meets the requirements set out in Article 56 of the Education Law and all other applicable laws, rules, and regulations; (2) the charter school has operated in an educationally and fiscally sound manner; and (3) granting the extension 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:

 

·        Albany Preparatory Charter School, Albany

 

VOTED: That the Board of Regents approve the proposed charter for the following charter school based upon the information contained in the attachment and upon a finding by the Board of Regents that (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 applicant can demonstrate the ability to operate the school in an educationally and fiscally-sound manner; and (3) granting 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:

 

·        Hellenic Classical Charter School, NYC CSD 15

 

 

 

Attachment

New York State Education Department

 

Summary of Proposed Charter

 

Summary of Applicant Information

 

 

Name of Proposed Charter School:  Albany Preparatory Charter School

 

Address:  30 Watervliet Avenue, Albany, NY 12206

 

Applicant(s):  Darryl Williams

 

Anticipated Opening Date: August 29, 2005

 

District of Location:  City School District of Albany                  

 

Charter Entity:  SUNY Board of Trustees

 

Institutional Partner(s): None

 

Management Partner(s): None

 

Grades Served:      5 (5-8)                                     Projected Enrollment: 100 (400)

 

Application Highlights

 

Applicant

 

Mr. Williams is a teacher and a resident of Albany.

 

Curriculum/Assessment/Instruction

 

·        The school aims to provide students an exceptionally high-quality educational program that will prepare them for a rigorous high school program.

·        The school will adopt the International Baccalaureate approach, which emphasizes critical thinking and exposure to a variety of points of view.

·        The school will support the modified International Baccalaureate approach with Junior Great Books, Saxon Math (grade 5), Connected Mathematics, the Full Option Science System (FOSS), A History of US, and Core Knowledge.

·        Spanish will be taught to all students.

·        The school will abide by, and its curriculum is aligned with, all the New York State learning standards.

·        The school will train all teachers in the Profile Approach to Writing.

·        The school will have a longer school day (8 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and a longer school year (205 days).

·        Computers will be provided for every classroom.

·        The school will follow a 90-minute block schedule for instruction and will provide two 90-minute prep periods daily for teachers of core subjects.

·        Teachers will be experts in their subject areas.

·        Dedicated times for tutoring will be built into the school schedule.

·        Dedicated times for cooperative teacher planning and professional development will be provided.

·        Students will take all State assessments required for grades 5 through 8.

·        The school will administer the Stanford-10 exams and several locally-developed assessments, which will be used as part of the Learning Standards Management System.

·        Consistent with the International Baccalaureate approach, students at the school will record their academic accomplishements in a Portfolio of Achievement.

 

Governance

 

·        The school will have between 7 and 15 members on its Board of Trustees.

·        Initially the school will have eight members on its Board of Trustees.

·        At least one seat on the Board of Trustees will be reserved for a parent of a child attending the school.

·        The Board of Trustees will appoint a school director, who will be assisted by an operations manager.

·        The school has done a search and has identified a candidate for the position of director; once the school is approved, the Board of Trustees will hire that person.

·        The director candidate has experience as principal of a school that implements the International Baccalaureate program.

·        The director candidate has worked closely with the applicants on the preparation of the application.

 

Students

 

·        The school will commence instruction with up to 100 students in grade 5.

·        The school will enroll up to 100 students per grade, for a maximum of 400 students in grades 5-8 by the 2008-09 and 2009-10 school years.

·        Class size will range from 22 to 25 students.

·        The school will institute a dress code that requires student uniforms.

 

Budget/Facilities

 

·        The start-up budget for the school (from approval to June 30, 2005) projects revenues of $375,000 and expenditures of $291,550, for a projected surplus of $83,450.

·        Anticipated revenues for the start-up period are from a federal Public Charter School Program (PCSP) grant, as well as private grants that have been promised pending the receipt of a charter.

·        The operational budget for the school’s first year anticipates revenues of $1,834,100 from per pupil payments, federal entitlement aid, a federal PCSP grant, two grants from a foundation that have been promised pending the receipt of a charter, and surplus from the start-up budget.

·        First-year expenditures are anticipated to be $1,631,550, for a first-year surplus of $202,550.

·        The school intends to occupy a renovated and expanded former Public School 3 building, located at 30 Watervliet Avenue.

·        The school will lease the facility from the Brighter Choice Foundation, which will purchase and renovate the building.

·        The Brighter Choice Foundation will provide financial support for the school.

·        The building currently consists of three stories of approximately 5,000 square feet each.  The building will be renovated into classroom space and an addition will be constructed to house new classrooms, administrative offices, and common-use rooms such as a cafeteria and gymnasium.

·        When completed the facility is expected to total 32,000 square feet.

 

Fiscal Impact

 

·        In the first operational year of the school, its projected impact will be approximately $925,900, or nearly six-tenths of one percent of the district’s budget.

·        The impact is anticipated to increase by one-half of a percent in each subsequent year of the school’s charter.

 

Potential Fiscal Impact of Charter Schools

on the Albany City School District

2004-09

 

Note: Adjusted expense per pupil (AEP) is based on $8,894 for 2004-05 multiplied by 4.1% (the average increase of the Albany CSD AEP from 1999-2004).  Budget is based on the actual 2004-05 amount of $147,918,715 multiplied by 7.7% (the percentage increase from 2003 to 2004).  It also assumes that all students enrolled in each charter school will come from Albany, and that all will attend as a 1.00 FTE for each school year.

Caution: the per pupil payment could increase or even decrease yearly, affecting the potential impact.  Predictions also cannot be made for charter schools beyond the final year of their charters, so the potential impact beyond the 2005-06 school year is even less certain.

 

Personnel

 

·        The school will have 9 classroom teachers in its first year of operation.

·        The number of classroom teaching staff will increase from 9 to 31 over the span of the charter.

·        The school staff will include a director, an administrative assistant, an operations manager, a social worker, a parent/community coordinator, a special education coordinator, and classroom aides.

·        The number of classroom aides will increase from one in the school’s first year of operation to four in the last year of its charter.

·        In its first year of operation, the school will have one special education coordinator/teacher; the school will add one special education teacher in its second year of operation.

 

Community Support

 

·        Parents of 234 students who would be eligible for grade 5 in 2005-06 have indicated their desire to submit applications for their children’s admission to the Albany Preparatory Charter School.

·        The applicants have surveyed Albany residents and received signatures in support of the Albany Preparatory Charter School from over 3,700 residents.

·        The proposed charter includes results from a telephone survey conducted by a professional polling organization.  Over 230 parents of children eligible to attend the charter school responded, with 65 percent indicating that they favor the creation of charter schools in Albany and over 90 percent indicating that such charter schools should have properties that Albany Preparatory Charter School plans to have.  These properties include more academic instruction in reading and math, computers in every classroom, and stronger student discipline.  Additionally, the size of the proposed school, its extended school day and year, and student uniforms were all supported by 60 to 80 percent of respondents.

·        The City School District of Albany submitted a letter contesting the proposed charter on educational and fiscal impact grounds and included copies of resolutions for a moratorium on charter schools in Albany from the Albany County Legislature and the Albany Common Council.

 

Recommendation

 

Return the proposed charter to the Trustees of the State University of New York for reconsideration., and extend its charter and provisional charter for five years, based upon the information contained in the attachments and upon a finding by the Board of Regents that:  (1) charter school meets the requirements set out in Article 56 of the Education Law and all other applicable laws, rules, and regulations; (2) the charter school has operated in an educationally and fiscally sound manner; and (3) granting the extension 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:

 

Reasons for Recommendation

 

Although the proposed charter meets the criteria for general acceptance, the projected fiscal impact would be too great a burden for the district of location.

 

New York State Education Department

 

Summary of Proposed Charter

 

Summary of Applicant Information

 

Name of Proposed Charter School: Hellenic Classical Charter School

 

Address: 232-238 18^th Street, Brooklyn, New York 11215

 

Applicant(s): Charles Capetanakis, Esq.

 

Anticipated Opening Date: September 2005

 

District of Location: New York City CSD 15/Region 8

 

Charter Entity: Chancellor of New York City Department of Education

 

Institutional Partner(s): Center for Educational Innovation–Public Education Association (CEI-PEA)

 

Management Partner(s): None

 

Grades Served: K-3 (K-8)             Projected Enrollment: 150 (350)

 

 

Application Highlights

 

Applicants

 

Charles Capetanakis has served on the Community School Board (District 20) in Brooklyn in such capacities as Member, Secretary, Treasurer, and President.  Mr. Capetanakis is an attorney and maintains a private practice, Capetanakis and Priete, LLP.  He is also a Certified Public Accountant and Vice-Chairman of the New York State Project Finance Agency, and was a Commissioner to the New York City Redistricting Commission.  Mr. Capetanakis holds a B.S. in Accounting from New York University, as well as a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law.

 

Management Partner

           

            None.

           

Institutional Partner

 

The Center for Educational Innovation-Public Education Association (CEI-PEA) was originally founded as two separate organizations.  CEI-PEA senior staff members have experience in the public schools, having served as teachers, principals and superintendents.  The organization approaches school reform through the development of new, small public schools; redesigning large public schools into small learning environments; training teachers and principals in innovative educational practices; advocating for system-wide adoption of effective school-based reforms and public education policies; researching and implementing best practices; supporting accountability measured by pupil performance; and providing extensive information services for parents and other members of the educational community.  CEI-PEA will assist the charter school with administrative and instructional issues; hiring school leaders and teaching staff; establishing staff development plans; developing a research-based curriculum; and creating a parent engagement plan.

 

Curriculum/Assessment/Instruction

 

§         The mission of the Hellenic Classical Charter School (HCCS) is to prepare all students intellectually, socially and emotionally, so that they may gain entry to and succeed in the best high schools in New York City.

§         The school will teach all its students to read, speak, and understand Greek beginning in kindergarten. The lessons will be structured around a textbook series that includes a reader, a workbook, and audiocassettes and CDs.

§         The study of the Greek language will be accompanied by the study of Greek culture, which is a part of the Core Knowledge Sequence and will be supplemented by materials provided by the Greek Ministry of Education. Greek literature (in both Greek and English), art, music and dance will be integral to the program.

§         The Greek Ministry of Education will provide curriculum development, staff development, books, specialty supplies and resource materials for each class.   

§         HCCS will use the Core Knowledge curriculum and will supplement all instruction with the classical study of the Greek and Latin languages, as well as history, art and other cultural studies.  The school will utilize didactic instruction, coaching and Socratic questioning (Paideia).

§         For English Language Arts instruction, the SRA-McGraw Hill's Open Court Reading model will be used.  Additionally, authentic literature, non-fiction, biography, poetry, rhymes and sayings from the Core Knowledge Sequence will be used. Students will be exposed to works from various cultures and gain exposure to reading and language through reading on their own and/or through teacher read-aloud activities.

§         For mathematics, the school will use the Saxon Math Program as its fundamental program.

§         For science instruction, HCCS will use the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study’s Teaching Relevant Activities for Concepts and Skills (T.R.A.C.S.) series published by Kendal/Hunt.

§         For social studies instruction, HCCS will use a series of history and geography textbooks created by the Core Knowledge Foundation and Pearson Education.

§         HCCS will also have an arts component to the curriculum in which students will be expected to develop their own works of art and view art critically.

§         The school will administer all State exams and assessments as required by No Child Left Behind.  The school will also administer the Iowa Test of Basic Skills to measure progress.

§         HCCS will educate ELL students following a model of Structured English Language immersion.

§         The school's program will be non‑sectarian.

§         The school’s academic day will be 8:00-3:45.

§         The school will provide a 180-day year.

§         The class size will be 25.

 

Governance

 

§         The initial Board of Trustees consists of six founding members, and is expected to expand to seven members by September 2005, with the addition of a member who has been selected from the community at-large. The number of Trustees shall be no less than 5 and no more than 15 at any time. The Board shall fix the exact number of Trustees, within these limits, by Board resolution or amendment of the Bylaws.

§         In addition to the Board of Trustees, HCCS has established an Advisory Board. The initial Advisory Board consists of three founding members, and is expected to expand to seven members, with the addition of four members who will be selected from the community at-large.

§         The Board of Trustees may meet no fewer than 10 times per year. The Advisory Board is expected to meet twice annually.

 

Students

 

§         HCCS will begin with 50 kindergartners, 50 first graders, 25 second graders, and 25 third graders. 

§         By Year 3, HCCS plans to serve 250 students in grades K- 5. 

§         By Year 5, HCCS will serve 350 students in grades K-7.

§         The school is open to all children who are eligible under New York State law for admission to a public school.

§         The regular school day will begin at 8:00 and end at 3:45. With this extended schedule, children will receive an additional 250 minutes of instruction per week.

 

Budget/Facilities

 

§         HCCS has budgeted $205,000 for all personal service, additional services (OTPS), fringe, and contingency expenses during the start-up phase.  The school has budgeted $1,557,694.60 for all aforementioned expenses during the first year of operation.

§         The school expects that a portion of these expenses will be defrayed by an in- kind contribution of $148,191 from the Consulate General of Greece.  HCCS also expects to receive a $65,000 start-up grant from the Center for Charter Excellence.

§         Most of the school’s revenue will be provided by the local school district in the form of the school’s per pupil allocation.  It is anticipated that this will be supplemented by Federal funds and State charter school grants.

§         HCCS will be housed at 232-238 18^th Street, Brooklyn, New York. Kimisis Tis Theotokou Greek Orthodox Church owns the proposed facility.

§         The school plans on renting the facility for $6.42 per square foot. This figure is well below the conservative market rate of $15 per square foot.  Rent for the 23,372 square foot facility will account for approximately 9.6 percent of the school’s total budget in year one.

§         HCCS will conduct fiscal and programmatic audits in accordance with the requirements of law and as additionally directed by the Board of Trustees.

 

Personnel

 

§         The Consulate General of Greece will provide at no cost to the school Greek language, art and music teachers.

§         The school principal is responsible for supervision of all staff, including those provided by the Greek government.

§         For its first year the school intends to hire an instructional staff of four Lead Teachers, one Special Education Teacher, two Specialty Teachers (for Greek and Art), and two Teaching Assistants.

§         The School will also hire a part-time librarian, a part-time social worker, 2 school aides, an administrative assistant, a principal/director, and a business manager.

 

Fiscal Impact

 

§         When fully enrolled with 350 students, the charter school will receive no more than 0.022% of the District’s budget (see fiscal impact chart).

§         The school’s first-year anticipated budget total is approximately $1.56 million.

§         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 Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) issued by the U.S. Comptroller General.

 

Potential Fiscal Impact of

Hellenic Classical Charter School

(New York City CSD 15/Region 8 – Brooklyn)

School Year	Number of Students	Projected Payment*	Projected Impact
2005-06	150	$1,230,174	0.0090%
2006-07	200	$1,714,042	0.0121%
2007-08	250	$2,238,968	0.0154%
2008-09	300	$2,807,666	0.0188%
2009-10	350	$3,423,013	0.0222%

* Assumes a 3 percent annual increase in the district’s budget from a 2001-2002 base of $12.5 billion and a 4.5 percent annual increase in the average expense per pupil per year from the 2003-2004 final average expense per pupil of $7,848.

 

Community Support

 

§         Signatures of over 129 parents and community members who reside in the community and support the school were submitted.

§         The Center for Family Life, Sunset Park; Turning Point Housing, D.F.C. in conjunction with Discipleship Outreach Ministries, Inc.; the Borough of Brooklyn, Community Board #7; Project Reach Youth; Circles of Support; and the Consulate General of Greece submitted letters in support of the 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.