MEMORANDUM 

January 31, 2012 

To: Johanna Duncan-Poitier, Senior Vice Chancellor for Community Colleges and the Education Pipeline; Susan Miller Barker, Interim Executive Director SUNY Charter Schools Institute 

From: Ralph A. Rossi II, Esq., General Counsel, SUNY Charter Schools Institute v

Subject: Statutory Requirements regarding Charter School Co-location in NYCDOE space 

Co-location of a public charter school in New York City Department of Education (the "NYCDOE") facilities involves multiple steps beginning with a charter school applicant identifying NYCDOE facility space in its charter application. At the end stages of the process, further detailed below, both the NYCDOE and the school's authorizing body must provide notice and hold public hearings seeking input into proposed co-locations. 

At the time an applicant submits a proposal for a charter school to any charter authorizer (the SUNY Trustees and the Board of Regents) the applicant(s) must: 

a. identify a proposed location so that statutorily required community outreach may be conducted; and 
b. declare that the school would be seeking space in a NYCDOE facility. The New York Charter Schools Act (the "Act") does not require that a school identify or have access to a facility in order to be granted a charter. When the school identifies a facility, however, it must notify SUNY and the Board of Regents. 

Locating a SUNY authorized charter school in a building owned by the NYCDOE with other public schools, known as "co-location," requires compliance with unique statutory requirements. 

a. Pursuant to part of the New York Education Law (known as the "Mayoral Control Law"), major changes in NYCDOE space utilization, including a charter school using NYCDOE space for the first time, need to be approved by the New York City Panel for Educational Policy (the "PEP"). 

b. The New York City Schools Chancellor proposes building utilization changes to the PEP. Before presenting changes to the PEP, the NYC Schools Chancellor must perform the following steps: 

	i. 	identify the proposed space; 

	ii. 	provide the rationale why the NYCDOE identified the space for charter school use; 

	iii. 	make all such information publicly available including on the NYCDOE's website; 

	iv.  	provide "widespread" notice regarding the collocation including specifically the  Community Education Council (the "CEC") in the Community School District where the charter school would be located, the Community Superintendent and the principals in the proposed 			school;  

	v.  	develop a Building Usage Plan (the "BUP"), which must by statute include: 

		a) the actual allocation and sharing of classroom and administrative space between the  charter and district schools; 

		b) a proposal for the collaborative use of shared space  including cafeterias, libraries, gymnasiums and playgrounds on an equitable basis;  

		c) justification of the feasibility of the proposed allocations including how they  would result in comparable and equitable use of the NYCDOE building by charter  and non-charter schools; and 

		d) information regarding school security, communication strategies between the schools and the establishment of a building  shared space committee to handle space issues as they arise; 

	 vi.  	provide public notice of the BUP in the same manner as the building as identified  (described in i —iv above);  

	vii.  include the BUP in the Educational Impact Statement the NYCDOE must prepare in  order to present the change in building use to the PEP; and  viii.  hold a public hearing to solicit comment on the proposed change in building use.  

c. Thereafter, the PEP must allow public comment prior to its vote, essentially the second hearing on the co-location. The determination to locate a charter school in public school space and the implementation or compliance with a building usage plan may be appealed to the New York State Commissioner of Education. 

d. The Act charges SUNY with holding a public hearing on the charter school being located in district school space. SUNY must provide notice of the hearing to parents of students enrolled in the district school. The Institute posts the hearing notices on its website and provides notice to affected CECs. The Institute also solicits written comments and holds the comment period open until after the PEP vote. 

As SUNY legally does not have access to the names and addresses of parents enrolled in NYCDOE schools, SUNY relies on the NYCDOE to provide such notice via mailings or backpack notices. In some cases, SUNY holds its hearing at the same time the NYCDOE holds the initial hearing on the change in building use. 

When a school seeks to change location, SUNY's charter agreement requires the SUNY Trustees to approve the change in location. The SUNY Trustees delegated the authority to make location determinations to the Institute via Resolution 2010-117 dated September 15, 2010. The Institute presents its proposed determinations as well as a summary of the comments received at or after the hearing to the Education, College Readiness and Success Committee. Pursuant to the SUNY Trustee's delegation, the Education, College Readiness and Success Committee or the Board of Trustees may, should they choose to do so, overturn the Charter Schools Institute's determination. 

Cc: General Counsel Howard