SUNY Trustees Vote to Close New Covenant Charter School (Albany)

Albany - The State University of New York Board of Trustees met today to reconsider last week's vote on the application to renew New Covenant Charter School. Today a majority of the Trustees present voted - six in favor, none opposed, and four abstentions - to close the New Covenant Charter School located in Albany, New York at the end of the current school year. 

Today’s decision marks the conclusion of a lengthy review process that included months of analysis by SUNY’s Charter Schools Institute, a community meeting at New Covenant, and two public sessions of the SUNY Trustees’ Charter Schools Committee. New Covenant will continue to operate until the last scheduled day of school, on or about June 21, 2010.

New Covenant Charter School was the second charter school to open in New York State in the fall of 1999.  The school has had a difficult history, including an initial charter renewal in 2004 wherein the school was ordered to eliminate instruction in grades 7 and 8 due to low performance; a vote by the school’s own board of trustees to close the school due to fiscal instability in 2007; and two consecutive non-renewal recommendations by SUNY’s Charter Schools Institute.  The school currently serves just over 600 students, the large majority of whom are residents of the City School District of Albany.

“Making the decision to close a school is never easy,” said Carl T. Hayden, Chairman of the SUNY Board of Trustees.  “Our obligation to be accountable is easier in the abstract than in practice. However, we recognize this decision is about the importance of ensuring that charter schools honor the compact with their authorizer. This is the reason charter schools are unique.”  

“We know how difficult today’s news is for the New Covenant community,” added Hayden. “And we acknowledge the significant time and effort that the school’s leadership team, teachers, students and parents all invested in an effort to try to turn this school around.”

In reviewing the school’s current application to renew its charter or contract to operate, the Charter Schools Institute found that while the school had made progress, it did not it did not meet the goals of its academic accountability plan or the academic conditions of its renewal. 

Referring to the Institute’s findings, Jonas S. Chartock, the Institute' s  Executive Director explained that, “the bar here is not just improvement, but rather the rigorous standards set by the SUNY Board of Trustees and how far a school is from meeting those standards with respect to:  1) to student achievement in math, English language arts, science and social studies; 2) having a strong and effective governance model, and 3) achieving fiscal stability.  It is by these measures that New Covenant has consistently missed the mark.”

In the coming days, the Institute will aid New Covenant families in their transition to a new school for next year.  The City School District of Albany submitted a detailed transition plan to the SUNY Trustees indicating its capacity to serve New Covenant Students. 

Because the deadlines for applications fell either at the end of this month or the beginning of the next month, the Institute has already shared with New Covenant parents information about magnet school and charter school deadlines as well as information on private and parochial schools. 

“I have been in communication with the superintendents of all of the home districts of New Covenant’s students, and families will have time to enter lotteries for schools of choice throughout the Capital District,” added Chartock. “We will work to coordinate open houses and continue to support individual families in any way we can.”

As the end of the school year draws closer, the Institute will also begin discussions with New Covenant’s board of trustees about the closure process.

It is too soon to make any comment on what will happen to the school’s building.

The Institute’s renewal report, as well as subsequently developed material related to today’s decision and prepared at the request of the SUNY Trustees, is available on the Institute’s website at: http://www.newyorkcharters.org/pubsReportsRenewals.htm (scroll to the bottom of the page).

The Charter Schools Institute was created by the State University Trustees to assist them in carrying out their responsibilities under the New York Charter Schools Act of 1998. Guided by the rigorous standards set by the State University Trustees, the Institute’s oversight of SUNY-authorized charter schools is comprehensive, including: acceptance and evaluation of new school charter applications; ongoing oversight and evaluation of all charter schools subsequently authorized by SUNY; reporting to the public on each school’s performance and progress; and conducting a comprehensive evaluation when a school applies to renew its charter.

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