M E M O R A N D U M


							March 29, 2010


To:		Members of the Board of Trustees

From:	Pedro A. Noguera, Chair, Charter Schools Committee

Subject:	Denial of Application for Charter Renewal of the 
New Covenant Charter School (Albany)

        I recommend that the Board of Trustees adopt the following resolution:
               
Resolved that the subsequent charter renewal application of New Covenant Charter School (the �School�), dated July 27, 2009, be, and hereby is, denied inter alia for the reasons set forth in the Charter Schools Institute�s renewal report that was provided to the Board of Trustees (copies on file in the Office of the Vice Chancellor and Secretary of the University and in the Albany office of the Charter Schools Institute); and be it further

Resolved that the Board of Trustees finds that the School did not meet all of the academic conditions of renewal set forth in the Board�s Resolution No. 2009-041, dated March 24, 2009; and be it further 

Resolved that based on the totality of the evidence presented to the Charter Schools Committee and the Board of Trustees by both the Charter Schools Institute and the School, the Board does not find that granting the School�s renewal application is likely to improve student learning and achievement and materially further the purposes of the Charter Schools Act within the meaning of Education Law subdivision 2852(2)(c); and be it further

Resolved that the Charter Schools Institute, acting for the Board of Trustees, be, and hereby is, directed to take steps necessary and appropriate to close the School and terminate the charter effective as of July 31, 2010, and to assist the School and the Board of Regents in the dissolution of the School corporation and/or the revocation of its certificate of incorporation.

Background

        The effect of this resolution is to authorize the Charter Schools Institute (the �Institute�) to take steps to close the New Covenant Charter School (the �School�), effective July 31, 2010. 
        
        The Institute has taken all necessary and appropriate actions to make a determination whether the School should close or remain open subsequent to July 31, 2010.  For the charter school listed above, the Institute properly notified the school district in which the school is located regarding the receipt of an application for charter renewal.  Comments were received from the Albany City School District and distributed to the Board of Trustees prior to March 23, 2010.

        The Board of Trustees is authorized under the Charter Schools Act to renew the charters of schools that it has authorized.  Pursuant to the Practices, Policies and Procedures for the Renewal of Charter Schools Authorized by the State University Board of Trustees (the �SUNY Renewal Practices�) (last amended on September 15, 2009 and on file in the Albany office of the Institute and at:  www.newyorkcharters.org), each school coming to renewal must file a renewal application.  Thereafter, the Institute conducts a renewal site visit, a review of the information in the renewal application as well as other relevant information, such as assessment data, site visit reports, and interviews with school trustees and staff, and produces a renewal report with its findings and recommendations.  The renewal report also contains a comparison of a school�s performance over the term of the prior charter to the renewal benchmarks described in the SUNY Renewal Practices.  The school receives a copy of the renewal report and is given an opportunity to comment on it before it is finalized.  When the Institute�s preliminary recommendation is non-renewal, the school is provided an opportunity to have Institute staff come to the school to hear a presentation by school leadership, staff, parents and/or the school community at large regarding why the school�s charter should be renewed, which in this case took place on December 22, 2009.  Thereafter, if the Institute�s recommendation to the Charter Schools Committee remains non-renewal, the school may petition the Committee directly, which the School did at the Committee�s meeting on January 15, 2010.  Copies of renewal reports are available in the Albany office of the Institute and at: www.newyorkcharters.org. 

        The School was issued a charter on September 17, 1999.  On September 15, 2004, the School was issued a five-year renewal of its charter with conditions, which expired on September 17, 2009.  On March 24, 2009, by Resolution No. 2009-041, the Board of Trustees authorized a one-year renewal with specific academic, legal and fiscal minimum conditions, and stated that only two renewal outcomes were available for the School�s next renewal � non-renewal or full term renewal of five years.  In the current renewal report, the Institute recommends that the School�s charter not be further renewed because the school did not meet the minimum conditions imposed by the Board of Trustees� March 2009 resolution.  If this resolution is approved, the School will close at the end of the current school year and will not provide instruction beyond July 31, 2010.



















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		March 29, 2010

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