Appendix B: Assurances

2016 SUNY

Request for Proposals

To Establish New Charter School Education Corporations to Operate Charter Schools in New York State; and,

For Existing SUNY Authorized Charter School Education Corporations to Operate Additional Schools

For Submission to the State University of New York Board of Trustees

Pursuant to New York Education Law 2852(9-a) and 2853(1)(b-1)

Release Date: January 8, 2016

Introduction

DRAFT FOR COMMENTSUNY Request for Proposals (2016)26

SUNY Charter Schools Institute

41 State Street, Suite 700

Albany, New York 12207

(518) 445-4250

(518) 320-1572 (fax)

www.newyorkcharters.org

2016 Request for Proposals Timeline

At the time of the release of the 2016 Request for Proposals (RFP), the SUNY Charter Schools Institute (the "Institute") intends to hold one review cycle to consider proposals to open new charter schools inside and outside of New York City. SUNY, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to modify the 2016 RFP schedule and to hold additional round(s) later in the year.

Action

Date

Draft RFP Public Comment Period

January 8- January 28, 2016

Release of 2016 Request for Proposals

February 12, 2016

Letter of Intent Due

Noon, February 29, 2016

The Institute will invite applicants whose Letter of Intent meets the requirements described in this RFP to submit a full proposal. The Institute aims to provide a Letter of Intent determination within ten business days of submission.

Final Proposals and Business Plans (if applicable) Due

Noon, March 29, 2016

Proposal Review

Late March-late April, 2016

Applicant Notification

Mid-May, 2016

Anticipated Charter Schools Committee Meeting

Mid-June, 2016

Charter Transmittal Preparation

Late June-mid-July, 2016

Proposed Charter Transmittal to New York State Board of Regents

Late July-mid August, 2016

Board of Regents' Action on Charters Approved by SUNY Trustees

Up to 90 days after transmittal to Board of Regents

Table of Contents

Timelinei

Table of Contentsii

Definition of Termsiii

INTRODUCTION1

SUNY as a Charter Authorizer1

Critical Information For All Applicants3

SUNYs Review Process6

Preference Scoring9

Application Requirements15

Formatting Proposals and Business Plans18

Letter of Intent Requirements22

Transmittal and Summary Form26

Standard Proposal Requests27

Replication Proposal Requests60

Appendices92

Charter School Applicant Eligibility Information for Federal CSP Grants93

Assurances Regarding the Provision of Special Education Services97

Assurances Regarding the Provision of Fiscal Audits and Dissolution99

DEFINITION OF TERMS

Charter Management Organization (CMO): CMO describes any not-for-profit charter management organization, educational service provider, or partner organization providing a majority of the educational management services at a charter school.

SUNY Charter Schools Committee (Committee): The Charter Schools Committee is a committee of the State University of New York Board of Trustees (the SUNY Trustees) that has been delegated the authority to make charter school decisions by the full SUNY Board of Trustees. The Committee approves or denies charter applications, major revisions and renewals, administers a statewide charter school grant program, and sets SUNY charter school policies and standards.

Charter School Education Corporation: A New York not-for-profit charter school education corporation that comes into existence through the issuance of a charter and the subsequent formation of a corporation by the New York State Board of Regents (the Board of Regents). Each charter entitles an education corporation to operate one school in one or more sites for each charter issued to it. Once a charter school education corporation has been formed, there is no need to form another education corporation in order to operate additional schools. The charter school education corporation holds one charter agreement with SUNY to operate all of its schools,

Partner Organization: A partner organization may be a CMO or non-profit entity such as a community based organization, college, university, museum, educational institution, or other organization authorized to do business in New York that would be responsible for managing and/or providing significant portion of the proposed school's academic program or operations whether or not such good, services, facilities, etc. would be provided free of charge or pursuant to a contract or shared service agreement with the education corporation.

Program: A program is an element of an educational model that may be shared among schools within the same education corporation.

School: A school is a vehicle for the delivery of a complete educational program to students that has independent leadership, dedicated staff, defined facilities and encompasses all of the approved grades for a given charter. An education corporation may have the authority to operate more than one school so long as a charter has been issued for each such school. Note that a school may be housed in more than one physical site.

Site: A site is one of a number of facility locations for a single charter school. Sites are typically grouped by grade range; for example, a school may have a K-4 site, 5-8 site or 9-12 site. Without additional authority, an education corporation approved to operate one school may not educate students of the same grade level in more than one site.

SUNY Request for Proposals (2016)iii

SUNY AS A CHARTER AUTHORIZER

The New York Charter Schools Act of 1998 (as amended, the Act) designates the SUNY Trustees as one of two state-wide chartering entities, or authorizers, along with the Board of Regents. Each authorizer has the authority to grant charters for the purpose of organizing charter school education corporations to operate one or more independent and autonomous public charter schools. SUNY is the largest charter school authorizer in New York State and the largest university-based authorizer in the country.

The Institutes work in this regard is designed to support the SUNY Trustees commitment to the guiding principles of the Act: to establish schools that operate in an academically, fiscally, and legally sound manner and provide outstanding educational opportunities for all students, especially those at risk of academic failure; and, to oversee approved schools in a manner that respects their independence and autonomy while holding them accountable for student achievement resultsincluding a commitment to close schools that have failed to live up to their promises.

Since its inception, the Institute has been recognized on numerous occasions for the quality of its authorizing practices. The CfBT Education Trust and the World Bank featured SUNYs authorizing practices in an online toolkit promoting public and private partnerships to support quality education. The toolkit, which includes a case study detailing SUNY's new school approval process, strategies for oversight and criteria for schools to earn charter renewal, can be found at cdn.cfbt.com/~/media/cfbtcorporate/files/ research/2011/r-nurturing-a-thousand-flowers-2011.pdf. The National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) awarded SUNY planning and implementation grants to support its work relating to the replication of high quality charter schools. NACSA also awarded SUNY the Award for Excellence in Improving Authorizer Practice, recognizing SUNY for having the best application process for creating new charter schools.

Positive results in the classroom affirm recognition of SUNYs authorizing work. Ninety percent of SUNY authorized charter schools outperformed their district school peers in mathematics and 73% outperformed their district school peers in English language Arts ("ELA") on the New York State 2014-15 exams. According to a review of the data from the January 2010 CREDO study, SUNY authorized charter schools yield greater gains in student achievement than their public school peers in New York City charter and non-charter schools. Further, the Institutes regression analysis of each charter school compared to schools statewide with similar percentages of economically disadvantaged students indicates that SUNY authorized charter schools consistently perform in the better than expected categories in both ELA and mathematics.

In the 2016-17 school year, SUNY authorized charter schools will serve approximately 70,000 students. Currently, SUNY authorizes 148 active charter schools across New York State:

129 in and around New York City - Manhattan (25); Brooklyn (58); Bronx (31); Queens (11); Staten Island (1); Wainscott (1); Roosevelt (1); and Hempstead (1);

6 in the Capital District - Albany (5); Troy (1); and,

13 in Western/Central New York Elmira (1); Ithaca (1); Rochester (6); Buffalo (5).

The SUNY Trustees support diversity and innovative program design in the charter schools they authorize. The SUNY Trustees set a high bar of expectations for student achievement, particularly for students most at risk of academic failure, but realize there is more than one way to meet that bar.

Among the portfolio of SUNY authorized charter schools are: schools with a particular focus on English language learners (ELLs); multiple schools using the Core Knowledge curriculum; a school implementing the Middle Years and Diploma Programmes of the International Baccalaureate Programm