M E M O R A N D U M June 25, 2012 To: Members of the Charter Schools Committee From: Joseph W. Belluck, Chair, Charter Schools Committee Subject: Revision of Practices, Policies and Procedures for the Renewal of Charter Schools Authorized by the Board of Trustees of The State University of New York Action Requested The proposed resolution authorizes the amendment of the Board of Trustees’ policies related to the renewal of the charters of charter school education corporations to reflect the Board’s June 12, 2012 delegation of authority to the Charter Schools Committee, which included authority to make all renewal decisions. Resolution I recommend that the Charter Schools Committee adopt the following resolution: Whereas the SUNY Charter Schools Institute (the “Institute”) drafted proposed revisions to the Practices, Policies and Procedures for the Renewal of Charter Schools Authorized by the Board of Trustees of The State University of New York (the “SUNY Renewal Policies”), which were last revised in June of 2009, consistent with the New York Charter Schools Act of 1998 (as amended, the “Act”) including Education Law subdivision 2851(4) (copies on file in the Office of the Secretary of the University and the Albany office of the Institute), and presented same to the Charter Schools Committee (the “Committee”); now, therefore, be it Resolved that the Committee finds the proposed revisions to the SUNY Renewal Policies are appropriate, sufficient and meet the requirements of the Act; and be it further Resolved that the revised SUNY Renewal Policies, be, and hereby are, promulgated as a policy of the Board of Trustees related to charter schools; and be it further Resolved that the Institute be, and hereby is, directed to implement the revised SUNY Renewal Policies upon the submission of any and all applications for charter renewal including any applications for renewal of charters that have been previously renewed. Background Pursuant to a resolution dated June 12, 2012, the Board of Trustees delegated authority to promulgate and revise policies related to the authorizing of charter schools to the Charter Schools Committee (the “Committee”). The Board of Trustees is authorized under the New York Charter Schools Act of 1998 to enter into a charter agreement for a term of up to five years with each charter school applicant whose application the Board approves. Such charters may be renewed, upon application, for a term of up to five years in accordance with Education Law subdivision 2851(4). This function has been delegated by the Board of Trustees to the Charter Schools Committee. The Practices, Policies and Procedures for the Renewal of Charter Schools Authorized by the State University Board of Trustees (the “SUNY Renewal Policies”) describe the background, legal requirements, objectives and key elements of a proposed renewal application as well as the renewal application review and decision making processes. The Board of Trustees first adopted the SUNY Renewal Policies (available from the Albany office of the Charter Schools Institute and on its website, www.newyorkcharters.org) on May 20, 2003. Upon recommendation of the SUNY Charter Schools Institute (the “Institute”), the Board of Trustees amended the SUNY Renewal Policies in January and December of 2005, June 2008 and June 2009 to reflect lessons learned over the course of multiple renewal cycles. The current revisions to the SUNY Renewal Policies, which are recommended by the Institute, reflect: • the 2010 amendments to the Act, which changed charter renewal application requirements including the inclusion of information related to meeting enrollment and retention targets for certain categories of students; • changes to various practices made necessary by the Board of Trustees’ delegation of all renewal functions to the Committee especially the non-renewal review process; and • other minor, largely technical revisions and clarifications. The resolution dated January 25, 2012 adopting the Board of Trustees’ Policy Framework for Charter School Replication, Background, Considerations, Legal Context, Research, Implications and Policies of the Board of Trustees of the State University of New York for the Replication of Charter Schools (the “SUNY Replication Policies”) directed the Institute to conduct a review of the SUNY Renewal Policies and provide recommendations to revise same to be consistent with the SUNY Replication Policies. The revisions reflected in this resolution do not amend the SUNY Renewal Policies to encompass the renewal of education corporations that may operate multiple schools. The Institute has secured grant funds from the National Association of Charter School Authorizers for that task and anticipates bringing such revisions to the Committee after the current renewal cycle. Renewal Policies (Revised as Proposed) Practices, Policies and Procedures for the Renewal of Charter Schools Authorized by the Board of Trustees of The State University of New York Pursuant to the New York Charter Schools Act of 1998 (as amended) (the “Act”), the Board of Trustees of the State University of New York (the “SUNY Trustees”) has adopted these practices, policies and procedures (the “SUNY Renewal Policies”) for considering applications for charter renewal submitted by public charter school education corporations that the SUNY Trustees have authorized. Purpose, Goals and Means A charter school trades the greater autonomy it is granted for the greater accountability to which it is held. While the SUNY Trustees have the obligation and authority to hold charter schools accountable through a number of means during the charter period (including revocation of an education corporation’s charter), the requirement that a school apply and be approved for renewal on a periodic basis is at the core of the Act’s charter school accountability bargain. Renewal, and the review that the SUNY Charter Schools Institute (the “Institute”) conducts, is, therefore, a high-stakes process for charter schools and, of course, the parents of students enrolled in those schools. The SUNY Trustees have created and published these SUNY Renewal Policies so that they, the Institute, charter schools, and equally important, the parents of students at those schools, understand the process, the criteria and the underlying assumptions and requirements surrounding renewal, as well as the responsibilities and obligations of all parties. In setting out and using these policies, charter schools will know before they come to renewal what it is they are expected to accomplish and what evidence they must be able to compile. This foreknowledge, in turn, enables charter schools potentially to present a more compelling case for renewal. When the SUNY Trustees make a determination of non-renewal, charter schools will understand the reasons for this outcome and parents will also be forewarned and informed. More generally, through the use of the SUNY Renewal Policies, the SUNY Trustees commit to a fair and transparent process. The essential means that the SUNY Trustees use to accomplish the important purposes and goals for renewal review are as follows: • By requiring schools to set out in an accountability plan (the “Accountability Plan”) their student achievement goals (and how they will be measured) at the early stages of the charter, all stakeholders are aware from the outset what a school is expected to accomplish. • By prescribing specific goals and measures of academic performance that schools must adopt, as part of their Accountability Plans, while also allowing them to formulate additional goals and measures, the Institute ensures that each school will generate objective and comparable evidence of student achievement, while also permitting each school to provide evidence of its success in meeting its unique program goals. • By providing feedback to schools as to their progress toward renewal, based on the stated renewal criteria, the SUNY Trustees through the Institute allow schools to understand where they stand at a given point in their charter terms in relation to earning renewal. • By requiring charter schools to evaluate their own progress annually and present their results in Accountability Plan Progress Reports, the Institute enables schools to demonstrate for themselves whether they are moving successfully toward renewal. • By giving far greater weight in the renewal decision process to the student assessment outcomes that a school generates (especially the results of state standardized tests in English language arts and mathematics) than to other criteria, the SUNY Trustees make renewal decisions that are heavily based on academic results. • By evaluating academic results using multiple measures and also taking into account the totality of additional evidence it gathers – including fiscal, legal and other organizational indicators, the SUNY Trustees maintain a renewal process that is aligned to the purposes and requirements of the Act, comprehensive, nuanced and reflective of the complexity of each school’s case for renewal. • By articulating a common set of Renewal Benchmarks (available at: www.newyorkcharters.org) that specify in detail what a successful school should be able to demonstrate at the time of renewal, the Institute provides schools with clear expectations from the very beginning of their charters. • By setting forth separate criteria for initial and subsequent renewal, the SUNY Trustees recognize the difference between starting and sustaining a school, as well as differences in the richness of student assessment data available depending on how long a school has been operating. • By holding schools to high standards, and renewing only those schools that are likely to continue to improve, or sustain high levels of, student learning and achievement, the SUNY Trustees fulfill the Act’s promise of true, outcome-based accountability. Background, History and Legal Requirements The Act provides for the creation of independent and autonomous public charter schools. Such schools are given greater statutory and regulatory freedom; in return they are required to demonstrate that they are educationally sound and capable of improving student learning and achievement as measured by objective assessment outcomes. Upon initial approval, charter school education corporations receive a provisional charter (certificate of incorporation) under which they have the authority to operate for a period of up to five years. Prior to the end of the five-year period (and the expiration of the provisional charter), a charter school has the right to apply for renewal of its initial charter for another term of up to five years. Such application is usually (but not necessarily) filed during the last year of the charter period and under the Act must be filed within six months of the expiration of the charter unless the SUNY Trustees (the charter entity) waive the deadline for good cause. The Institute acting on behalf of the SUNY Trustees will waive such deadline in appropriate cases. Subsequent renewals are treated in a similar fashion with an application required before the expiration of the current charter term in order for a school to be eligible for renewal. While the Act provides grounds for revoking a school’s charter at any time during its charter period, the specific grounds for revocation are such that the renewal review is the principal point at which the academic performance of the school is assessed and the decision to continue to permit the school to operate is made. Unlike the requirements for an application to establish a charter school education corporation, which the Act sets out in great detail, the Act prescribes only a few specific requirements for a charter school renewal application. They are: (a) a report of the progress of the charter school in achieving the educational objectives set forth in the charter; (b) a detailed financial statement that discloses the cost of administration, instruction, and other spending categories for the charter school that will allow a comparison of such costs to other schools, both public and private; (c) copies of each of the annual reports of the charter school, including the charter school report cards and the certified financial statements; (d) indications of parent and student satisfaction; and (e) the means by which the charter school will meet or exceed the enrollment and retention targets prescribed by the SUNY Trustees for students with disabilities, English language learners and students who are eligible for the federal Free and Reduced Price Lunch program, which shall be considered by the SUNY Trustees prior to approving a renewal application. The Act permits the SUNY Trustees to require additional information, which is reflected in the Institute’s renewal applications. The renewal application approval process parallels the initial charter application process in some though not all respects. First, no application for charter renewal can be approved until and unless the SUNY Trustees make the findings required by the Act as codified in subdivision 2852(2) of the Education Law (the “§ 2852(2) Findings”): (a) the charter school described in the application meets the requirements set out in [the Act] and all other applicable laws, rules and regulations; (b) the education corporation can demonstrate the ability to operate the school in an educationally and fiscally sound manner; (c) granting the application is likely to improve student learning and achievement and materially further the purposes set out in [Education Law § 2850(2)]; and (d) in a school district where the total enrollment of resident students attending charter schools in the base year is greater than five percent of the total public school enrollment of the school district in the base year (i) granting the application would have a significant educational benefit to the students expected to attend the proposed charter school or (ii) the school district in which the charter school will be located consents to such application. Second, once the SUNY Trustees or its Charter Schools Committee approves a renewal application, the Institute executes a proposed renewal charter and forwards it to the Board of Regents for review. In the event that the Board of Regents does not approve the proposed charter, it must return the proposed charter to SUNY for reconsideration with its comments and recommendations. Such comments or recommendations may include proposed amendments to the proposed charter or a comment to reconsider some aspect of the application’s approval. Thereafter, and after consideration of the Board of Regents’ comment(s) and recommendation(s), the SUNY Trustees or its Charter Schools Committee may resubmit the proposed charter (with some, all or none of the modifications that the Board of Regents may have suggested). If resubmitted and the Board of Regents does not act to approve the proposed charter, it goes into effect by operation of law after 30 days. Lastly, the SUNY Trustees may abandon the returned proposed charter, in which case the charter would expire at the end of its then current term. The decision to renew a charter is left to the sound discretion of the SUNY Trustees or its Charter Schools Committee. Prior to and Preparing for Renewal A. Initial Charter Period During the first year of operation of a school, the Institute works with that school to develop an Accountability Plan, which contains the general goals that the charter school obligates itself to meet and delineates very specific measures to determine whether, or to what extent, the school has met such goals. To ensure high standards among schools that the SUNY Trustees authorize, comparability to other public schools, and compliance with the NCLB, the Institute prescribes a set of specific academic achievement measures. Recognizing that each school, especially high schools, may have unique features, the Institute permits schools to formulate additional academic goals and measures. While a charter school may also include optional organizational and fiscal goals in its Accountability Plan, the core function of the Accountability Plan is to set forth the academic goals by which the school will be judged at the time the school comes to renewal (see, also, Renewal Criteria, Evaluation Process and Outcomes, infra at page 7). Thereafter, and throughout the initial charter period, the Institute (and/or its consultants) visit the school and evaluate the school’s academic and organizational progress on a periodic basis. Depending on the nature of the visit, the Institute provides the school a written review of the visit (either in the form of a formal report or a letter to the education corporation’s board of trustees and school leadership team). Where possible, the Institute discusses with the education corporation board and school leadership team the visit conclusions, provides assistance (consistent with its oversight role) to identify deficiencies, and, if needed, discusses possible avenues for corrective action. Consistent with the school’s status as an independent and autonomous public school, the Institute’s lack of assistance, requested or otherwise, does not excuse a school’s failure to meet its Accountability Plan goals or to comply with the requirements of the Act, charter, or applicable laws, rules and regulations. Should the Institute’s oversight uncover severe deficiencies, the Institute, pursuant to the power granted to it in the charter agreement, may require a school to enter into a corrective plan, or, in appropriate circumstances and as permitted and circumscribed the Act, the SUNY Trustees or its Charter Schools Committee may place the school on probation or revoke the education corporation’s charter. To assist schools in determining whether they are making appropriate progress towards a successful renewal review, the Institute’s visit protocols, reports and oral feedback center on a school’s performance under the same measures and performance indicators (the Renewal Benchmarks) that the Institute employs during the renewal review. In particular, the Institute reviews with a charter school on a periodic basis the goals and specific measures set forth in its Accountability Plan as well other benchmarks concerning the educational program and the school’s organizational and fiscal soundness. B. Planning Year and Other Charter Extensions Schools that take one or more planning years or whose charters were issued on a date that does not approximately coincide with the school year may need extensions of their charter terms approximately equal in length to the number of planning years the school has taken, or to complete the end of a school year, respectively. While the SUNY Trustees must be able to determine that the educational program will be sound during the next (extension) charter period based on data from student assessments and/or established and accepted academic program evaluation benchmarks (the “Qualitative Education Benchmarks”), which are a subset of the Renewal Benchmarks, (and that the other renewal requirements of the Act are met), such extensions are not strictly within the scope of these SUNY Renewal Policies. Rather, schools may apply for such extensions to the Institute (typically in the summer following the first year of operation) in a manner similar to a charter revision and pursuant to guidance of the Institute. The Charter Schools Committee or the Institute may act on such extensions in its own discretion, and the denial of such an extension shall not be considered a non-renewal of a charter, or be appealable to the Charter Schools Committee. C. Subsequent Charter Periods During subsequent charter periods, given the longer time a school has been in operation and the greater weight placed on academic performance, the scope and timing of the Institute’s oversight process changes. In general, and consonant with the record of success that any renewed school has generated, the frequency of the Institute’s visits, as well as their breadth and depth decreases. While the Institute conducts at least one school inspection visit during the course of a renewal charter term, it may increase the number and scope of such visits where appropriate or necessary. The Institute continues to provide feedback aligned to the Renewal Benchmarks. Finally, as during the initial charter period, schools are required to continue to report annually on their progress towards their Accountability Plan goals. Application for Renewal To assist the SUNY Trustees in capturing the information necessary to make an informed decision on renewal, as well as to allow them to make the § 2852(2) Findings (see, Background, History and Legal Requirements, supra at page 3) and any other findings they require, the application for charter renewal asks schools to answer the following questions using valid objective evidence. • Is the school an academic success? • Has the school met its non-academic goals and been faithful to its mission and charter design? • Has the school been effectively governed? • Are parents and students satisfied? • Has the school satisfactorily met its legal requirements? • Is the school fiscally sound? • If the school’s charter is renewed, what are its plans for the term of the next charter period, and are they reasonable, feasible and achievable? Applications for charter renewal are available to charter schools at the Institute’s Albany office and on its website, www.newyorkcharters.org. The Institute provides additional information to applicants regarding the means and manner of the submission including required formats for the submission of assessment data. Application requirements (and manner of submission) differ depending on the type of renewal for which a charter school is eligible to apply. Renewal Criteria, Evaluation Process and Outcomes The ultimate criteria that a school must meet in order to be renewed are those implicit in the § 2852(2) Findings, (see, Background, History and Legal Requirements, supra, page 3.) In addition, the SUNY Trustees require that each education corporation granted renewal be an “effective, viable organization.” The SUNY Trustees will not act favorably on any application for renewal unless it can make each of these “Required Findings.” The Required Findings are quite broad (e.g., whether the school will be operated in an “educationally sound manner”) and neither self-defining nor self-executing. The SUNY Trustees therefore use a set of “general guidelines and methods” that further refine and define what evidence a charter school must be able to marshal and how to evaluate and weigh the various sources of evidence the Institute gathers during the renewal inquiry. In addition, the SUNY Trustees have established a set of “renewal outcomes” which specify with greater precision the various kinds of renewal available and eligibility criteria for particular types of renewal. General Guidelines and Methods • While the SUNY Trustees apply specific criteria to evaluate each school, a renewal decision is based on the totality of the evidence that the Institute gathers. • In keeping with the Act’s emphasis on academic achievement and the legal requirements of NCLB, the SUNY Trustees weigh a charter school’s academic performance far more heavily than any other factor (such as future plans) in determining whether they can make the Required Findings that relate to the strength of the educational program, especially when considering a subsequent charter renewal. • In determining the strength of a charter school’s academic performance during a charter period, the SUNY Trustees consider the most important indicator to be, and give the greatest weight to, the school’s record in meeting its academic Accountability Plan goals especially in English language arts and mathematics. The SUNY Trustees may also factor into their review the time during the charter period when standardized assessment data were posted as well as positive and negative trends that the data evidence. • The SUNY Trustees recognize that official student achievement data for the last year of a school’s charter term (the year in which the renewal review occurs) are not available when the SUNY Trustees must make renewal decisions. As such, charter schools applying for initial renewal present (and the SUNY Trustees consider) student achievement data from only the first four years of the school’s operation in its initial charter term as evidence of the extent to which they have met their Accountability Plan goals. Charter schools applying for subsequent renewals present (and the SUNY Trustees consider) student achievement data for the last year of their previous charter term through the academic year prior to the last year of the charter term under review. These respective periods are known as the “Accountability Period.” • Given the limited standardized assessment data available at the time of an initial renewal review and the challenges that a start-up charter school faces, the Institute also reviews the school’s academic program and evaluates its strength and effectiveness based on the Qualitative Education Benchmarks. The depth of the Institute’s review of the academic program, the level of quality required, and the weight accorded to the evidence collected using the Qualitative Education Benchmarks, varies depending on the school’s record of meeting its academic Accountability Plan goals and on the specific type of renewal the school seeks. • The SUNY Trustees acknowledge that, in exchange for greater accountability for student achievement outcomes, charter schools are afforded significant autonomy over elements of their academic programs, organizational effectiveness and viability, and fiscal soundness. As a result, charter schools may implement a range of programmatic and organizational changes in pursuit of improved student achievement outcomes, and such changes may occur at any point during a charter period (some requiring approval of the Institute and/or the Charter Schools Committee). Notwithstanding the scope of the changes or existence of prior approval, measurable student achievement results that are the consequence of programmatic and organizational changes will be afforded greater consideration than indications of the extent of the implementation of such changes. • To focus its evidence gathering, and to allow schools to understand with greater particularity the criteria for making the Required Findings, the Institute deploys a set of Renewal Benchmarks. Not every benchmark, or a particular group of benchmarks, is weighed equally, and application of the Renewal Benchmarks does not result in an overall score. In addition, success in meeting the criteria in specific benchmarks does not necessarily generate a positive renewal decision. State University of New York Charter School Renewal Policies A. Initial Renewal Outcomes The following renewal outcomes are available to education corporations in their first charter period. Each outcome contains specific criteria keyed to one or more of the Required Findings. In addition, a school must be able to provide evidence that permits the SUNY Trustees to make each of the Required Findings, i.e., the school will operate in a fiscally sound manner, etc. The Institute will review and analyze the success of a school in meeting the specific requirements set forth in a particular outcome pursuant to the General Guidelines and Methods. • Full-Term Renewal: available to a school in its fifth year of operation for the maximum term of five years. In order for a school to be eligible for Full-Term Renewal, a school must during the Accountability Period either: (a) have compiled a strong and compelling record of meeting or coming close to meeting its academic Accountability Plan goals, and have in place at the time of the renewal review an educational program that, as assessed using the Qualitative Education Benchmarks, is generally effective; or (b) have made progress toward meeting its academic Accountability Plan goals and have in place at the time of the renewal review an educational program that, as assessed using the Qualitative Education Benchmarks, is particularly strong and effective. • Short-Term Renewal: available to a school in its fifth year of operation typically for a term of three years. In order for a school to be eligible for Short-Term Renewal, a school during the Accountability Period must either: (a) have compiled a mixed or limited record of educational achievement in meeting its academic Accountability Plan goals, but have in place and in operation at the time of the renewal inspection visit (i) an academic program of sufficient strength and effectiveness, as assessed using the Qualitative Education Benchmarks, which will likely result in the school’s being able to meet or come close to meeting those goals with the additional time that renewal would permit, and (ii) a governing board and organizational structures that have demonstrated the capacity to meet the school’s academic Accountability Plan goals and to operate the school in an educationally and fiscally sound fashion; or (b) have compiled an overall record of meeting its academic Accountability Plan goals but, at the time of the renewal inspection visit, have in place an educational program that, as assessed using the Qualitative Education Benchmarks, is inadequate in multiple and material respects. • Renewal with Conditions: available to a school that: (a) meets the standards for Full-Term Renewal or Short-Term Renewal with regard to its educational program, but that has material legal, fiscal or organizational deficiencies that cannot be fully corrected by the time of renewal — so long as such deficiencies are not fatal to making each and every other required finding, or (b) meets the standards for Full-Term Renewal or Short-Term renewal with regard to some portion of its educational program, but requires conditions to improve the academic program. Such conditions may include, but are not limited to, restrictions on the number of students and grades served. Conditions may also be imposed that are consonant with the requirements of NCLB as to schools requiring corrective action. Where appropriate, conditions may be imposed which if not met by the education corporation shall be deemed a substantial and material violation of the charter and therefore expose the education corporation to probation or charter revocation. • Non-Renewal: where a school does not apply for renewal (voluntarily surrenders its charter) or fails to meet the criteria for any other type of renewal, the charter will not be renewed, the charter will be terminated upon its expiration and the education corporation will be dissolved. B. Subsequent Renewal Outcomes In subsequent renewal reviews, and in contrast to initial renewal reviews, the SUNY Trustees evaluate the strength and effectiveness of a school’s academic program almost exclusively by the degree to which the school has succeeded in meeting its academic Accountability Plan goals during the Accountability Period. This approach is consistent with the greater time that a school has been in operation and a concomitant increase in the quantity and quality of student achievement data that the school has generated. It is also consistent with the Act’s purpose of moving from a rules-based to an outcome-based system of accountability in which schools are held accountable for meeting measurable student achievement results. Where the Institute’s renewal site visit generates overwhelming and incontrovertible evidence that the academic program is in disarray and that the structures, personnel and practices that had led to positive assessment outcomes are, in material respect, no longer in place (through an assessment using the Qualitative Education Benchmarks), the SUNY Trustees may take account of such countervailing evidence, and such countervailing evidence, if of sufficient strength and weight, may affect the SUNY Trustees’ decision. The following outcomes are available to schools that are not in their first Accountability Period. Each outcome contains specific criteria keyed to one or more of the Required Findings. In addition, a school, to be eligible for any type of renewal, must be able to provide evidence that permits the SUNY Trustees to make each of the Required Findings. • Early Renewal: available to any school that has previously received a Full-Term Renewal and has met or come close to meeting its academic Accountability Plan goals. A school that is able to demonstrate this level of achievement is eligible to apply for Early Renewal four years from the time it applied for its prior renewal. • Full-Term Renewal: available to any school that has been previously renewed and that has met or come close to meeting its academic Accountability Plan goals during the Accountability Period. • Renewal with Conditions: available to a school that: (a) otherwise meets the standards for Full-Term Renewal with regard to its educational program, but that has material educational, legal, fiscal or organizational deficiencies that cannot be fully corrected by the time of renewal — so long as such deficiencies are not fatal to the SUNY Trustees making each of the Required Findings; or (b) meets the standards for Full-Term Renewal with regard to some portion of its educational program, but requires conditions to improve the academic program. Such conditions may include, but are not limited to, restrictions on the number of students and grades served. Conditions may also be imposed that are consonant with the requirements of NCLB as to schools requiring corrective action. Where appropriate, conditions may be imposed which if not met by the education corporation shall be deemed a substantial and material violation of the charter and therefore expose the education corporation to probation or revocation. • Non-Renewal: where a school does not apply for renewal or the school fails to meet the criteria for any other type of renewal, the charter will not be renewed, the charter will be terminated upon its expiration and the education corporation will be dissolved. Review and Decision Process The SUNY Trustees’ renewal process is designed to be open, rigorous and timely. The key elements of this process are set forth below. • A school submits an application, usually just prior to the start of the last year of its charter. The school receives a decision generally within six to eight months of the application’s submission. • In accordance with the Act, the Institute notifies public and non-public schools in the same geographic area as the charter school of the receipt of an application for renewal. The Charter Schools Committee will consider comments from the school district in which the charter school is located and forward same to the Board of Regents if it approves any type of renewal. In addition, the Institute posts information about renewal applications on its website, www.newyorkcharters.org. • The Institute reviews the application as well as data and records in its files including school evaluation reports. It thereafter generally conducts an extensive and comprehensive site visit to the school. The scope of the site visit and its duration varies depending on the type of renewal for which the school is eligible, e.g., an initial or subsequent renewal. Depending on these and other factors, the site visit may encompass interviews with parents, students, teachers, administrators and education corporation trustees, reviews of documentary evidence including evidence relating to curriculum, pedagogy, internal assessment, board governance and legal compliance, and extensive classroom observations. Its duration may be from one to four days or more if necessary. The Institute may require additional documentation and other evidence where necessary and appropriate. The Institute may conduct follow-up visits where it deems necessary, but is not required to do so. • The Institute prepares a draft report to the Charter Schools Committee that includes its preliminary renewal recommendation, findings, and other conclusions and forwards a copy to the school to solicit comment and factual corrections to ensure the accuracy of evidence and findings contained within the draft report. • Where the Institute is prepared to make a recommendation of non-renewal, it will so notify the school of its preliminary recommendation prior to making its final recommendation and allow the school an opportunity to present evidence and argument to the Institute in opposition. This evidence could have previously been submitted in the school’s Application for Renewal, at the time of the Institute’s renewal inspection visit, or drawn from the school’s Accountability Period. The Institute will consider such evidence, prior to making its final recommendation. The Institute will determine the form, time, manner and place and other practices related thereto. • In all cases, the Institute prepares a final report for presentation to the Charter Schools Committee that contains the Institute’s renewal recommendation and forwards a copy to the school. • The Institute will take appropriate steps to ensure that the school disseminates the final recommendation of the Institute to the parents of students at the school. • In all cases where the Institute makes a positive renewal recommendation of either type (Short-Term Renewal or Full-Term Renewal), no review of that decision may be taken to the Charter Schools Committee regardless of any renewal conditions imposed. • At its discretion, the Charter Schools Committee will act on the Institute’s final recommendation. Where the Charter Schools Committee, acting on behalf of the SUNY Trustees, takes action to renew a school for any term, the action of the Committee shall be final. No appeal from any decision of the Charter Schools Committee may be taken to the full SUNY Board of Trustees. • Where the Institute’s final renewal report recommends non-renewal of the charter, the education corporation may petition to appear before the Charter Schools Committee prior to the Committee making any final renewal decision and the Committee, at its sole discretion, may grant or deny such petition. If the petition is granted, the education corporation may, at the discretion of the Charter Schools Committee, present documentary evidence as well as legal argument to the Committee. The Charter Schools Committee will determine the form, time, manner, place as well as other practices thereto. At its sole discretion, the Charter Schools Committee may, but is not required to, appoint a subcommittee to act for it, in a manner that is consistent with the SUNY Trustees’ by-laws. • In the event the Institute’s final renewal report recommends renewal of the charter but the Charter Schools Committee initially takes action to not renew the charter, the Committee shall, prior to taking final action to not renew the charter, afford the education corporation the same process and review as set forth in these SUNY Renewal Policies as if the Institute had recommended non-renewal to the Committee. • At the discretion of the Charter Schools Committee, the Committee will act on the recommendation of the subcommittee or the Institute. The Charter Schools Committee retains sole authority over non-renewal decisions and the decision of the Committee shall be final. • In the event that the Charter Schools Committee or any subcommittee are unable to meet, the Institute upon notice to all members of the Committee and in consultation with the Chair of the Committee, and upon no dissent being made by any member of the Committee, may present its findings and recommendation(s) directly to the SUNY Trustees. • If a renewal application is approved by the Charter Schools Committee, a proposed renewal charter will thereafter be entered into by the Institute and the education corporation, and forwarded to the Board of Regents for action (approval or return to the SUNY Trustees for further consideration together with any comments and recommendation). • If a proposed renewal charter is returned by the Board of Regents, the Institute will review the comments and recommendations of the Regents, and present a recommendation to the Charter Schools Committee regarding resubmission of the proposed charter to the Regents with or without modification, or abandonment of the proposed charter. The Institute will include the comments of the Board of Regents for consideration. The Charter Schools Committee may approve such resubmission or abandonment in its sole authority. • In the event that the Institute recommends abandonment of the charter, the Institute shall, prior to presenting its recommendation to the Charter Schools Committee, afford the education corporation the same process and review as set forth in these SUNY Renewal Policies as if the Institute had initially recommended non-renewal to the Committee. Thereafter, if the Institute maintains its recommendation to abandon the charter, the education corporation may seek review of the recommendation by the Charter Schools Committee in accordance with the review procedures for non-renewal recommendations, above. • Similarly, if the Institute recommends resubmission of the charter but the Charter Schools Committee initially takes action to abandon the charter, the Committee, prior to the taking final action to abandon the charter, shall afford the education corporation the same process and review as set forth in these SUNY Renewal Policies as if the Institute had recommended non-renewal to the Committee. Supplemental and Additional Practices, Policies and Procedures The SUNY Renewal Policies provide an overview of the renewal process and describe its central elements; they do not delineate every detail of the renewal process employed by the SUNY Trustees, the Charter Schools Committee or the Institute. Supplemental, interstitial practices and procedures may be required and employed to ensure the integrity, comprehensiveness and excellence of SUNY’s charter school program and the renewal process in particular. Such amendments and supplements, if material, may be made either through action of the Charter Schools Committee or, where appropriate, by the Institute acting in consultation with the Chair of the Charter Schools Committee. Amendment, Effective Date and Scope The SUNY Renewal Policies may be amended by the Charter Schools Committee or by the SUNY Trustees, as the case may be. Amendments shall be effective upon passage of a duly approved resolution by either body or upon such date as may be set forth therein. If one section or clause of the SUNY Renewal Policies is found to be unlawful by a court of competent jurisdiction it shall not affect the other parts of the SUNY Renewal Policies. The SUNY Renewal Policies do not limit the discretion or authority of the SUNY Trustees as a charter entity as set forth in the Act. Renewal Proces Review / Upcoming Renewal Determinations About the SUNY Charter Renewal Process • In New York State, an initial charter (contract to operate) is granted for a five-year term. • At the end of each charter term, a school must apply to renew its charter. • Consistent with the Principles & Standards of the National Association for Charter School Authorizers (NACSA), SUNY is committed to upholding the accountability bargain associated with charter schools: - Increased autonomy in exchange for true accountability. - A SUNY authorized charter school must demonstrate that it has earned the right to continue operating or risk being closed down. • SUNY benefits from established Renewal Policies, particularly in the case of a non-renewal (closure) recommendation: - Renewal policies are introduced to applicants at the earliest stages; setting clear expectations. - Possible Initial Renewal outcomes (in NYS at the 5 year mark) afford some consideration for start-up challenges and less available data.  Full-term renewal, short-term renewal (typically 3 years), or non-renewal. - Subsequent Renewal outcomes are almost exclusively performance driven.  Early Renewal, Full-Term Renewal or Non-Renewal. - Possible renewal outcomes under the renewal policies driven by:  Extent to which a school has met the SUNY Renewal Benchmarks.  Extent to which a school has met its SUNY Accountability Plan goals. - Institute school evaluations are conducted through the lens of the SUNY Renewal Benchmarks. The Institute also reports on each school’s progress toward meeting accountability plan goals each year. The result is that schools have a good understanding throughout the charter term of whether or not they are effectively building a case for renewal. SUNY Initial Renewal Findings and Potential Outcomes The SUNY Renewal Policies define three potential renewal outcomes for SUNY authorized charter schools coming to renewal for the first time: Full-Term Renewal (five years); Short-Term Renewal (typically three years); or Non-renewal (closure). During the fifth year of a school’s initial charter term, the Institute makes a renewal recommendation for consideration by the SUNY Trustees based on the extent to which the school has met its academic Accountability Plan goals and has in place an effective educational program as assessed using SUNY’s Qualitative Education Benchmarks. SUNY Subsequent Renewal Findings and Potential Outcomes The SUNY Renewal Policies define three potential renewal outcomes for SUNY authorized charter schools that have previously been renewed at least once, and therefore are in what is considered a Subsequent charter term: Early Renewal (five years); Full-Term Renewal (five years) or Non-renewal (closure). Note that a Short-Term Renewal is specifically no longer an option for schools in subsequent charter terms; the expectation of performance is higher in subsequent terms. During a subsequent charter term, the Institute makes a renewal recommendation for consideration by the SUNY Trustees based primarily on the extent to which the school has met its academic Accountability Plan goals. Upcoming Renewal Candidates to be Considered by the SUNY Trustees’ Charter Schools Committee School City or NYC Borough Charter Approved Year Opened # Years Operating Grades Served 2011-12 Enrollment Last Renewal Decision Early Subsequent Renewals (Institute Renewal Visits Conducted May - June, 2012; Trustee Consideration Anticipated in September 2012) Brooklyn Excelsior Charter School Brooklyn 2002 2003 9 K-8 712 Initial Full-Term 2008 Family Life Academy Charter School Bronx 2001 2001 11 K-8 433 Subsequent Full-Term 2008 Harlem Village Academy CS Manhattan 2002 2003 9 5-12 398 Initial Full-Term 2008 King Center Charter School Buffalo 2000 2000 12 K-6 240 Subsequent Full-Term 2008 Subsequent Renewals (Institute Renewal Visits to be Conducted Sept - December, 2012; SUNY Trustee Consideration Anticipated in January 2013) Achievement Academy CS Albany 2004 2005 7 5-8 221 Initial Short-Term 2010 Bronx Better Learning Charter School Bronx 2003 2003 9 K-5 385 Initial Full-Term 2008 Harlem Link Charter School Manhattan 2004 2005 7 K-5 300 Initial Short-Term 2010 Oracle Charter School Buffalo 2004 2005 7 9-12 316 Initial Short-Term 2010 UFT Charter School Brooklyn 2005 2005 7 K-11 926 Initial Short-Term 2010 Initial Renewals - (Institute Renewal Visits to be conducted Sept - December, 2012; SUNY Trustee Consideration Anticipated in March 2013) Achievement First Brownsville CS Brooklyn 2008 2008 4 K-4 404 N/A Bedford Stuyvesant Collegiate CS Brooklyn 2008 2008 4 5-8 255 N/A Green Dot New York Charter HS Bronx 2008 2008 4 9-12 378 N/A Green Tech Charter High School Albany 2006 2008 4 9-12 313 N/A Harlem Success Academy CS 2 Manhattan 2008 2008 4 K-4 620 N/A Harlem Success Academy CS 3 Manhattan 2008 2008 4 K-4 612 N/A Harlem Success Academy CS 4 Manhattan 2008 2008 4 K-4 400 N/A Icahn Charter School 3 Bronx 2008 2008 4 K-5 213 N/A