0 The School District of Philadelphia Charter School Renewals School Reform Commission Overview...

1The School District of Philadelphia

Charter School Renewals

School Reform Commission Overview

December 16, 2011


Charter Renewal Process: Pennsylvania Charter Law

Pennsylvania Charter School Law directs local school boards to conduct reviews of charter schools prior to granting five-year renewals.

Options

Five (5) Year Renewal

One (1) Year Renewal** Non- Renewal

Five (5) Year Renewal with performance

targets*

Renewal Review

* Permitted for charter schools in Corrective Action; see Charter School Law, Section 17-1729A(6).

* *Permitted if additional academic data is required; see Charter School Law, Section 17-1720A(b)(1).


Feb MarSep Nov Dec JanAug Oct

Charter Schools Complete Application

SchoolWorks Renewal Site Visits

CSO Reviews Applications

Renewal Kick-Off Meeting

Prep for Renewal Site Visits

11/15: Applications Due

12/15: District receives Renewal Site Visit Reports

12/20: SPI Scores distributed to Charter Schools

CSO creates renewal reports/recommendations

1/18: Renewal Update

3/21: SRC Vote

Charter Renewal Process: 2011-2012 Renewal Timeline

Note: Charter School Modification deliverables align to the renewal tasks/deadlines.

2/15: Preliminary Rec. sent to SRC

2/15: Charter Schools receive a copy of the Renewal Report

12/16: Renewal Update

1/11 : Charters provide feedback on SPI

2/24: Charters submit feedback on Renewal Report

AppealSPI


Data and materials collected/reviewed by renewal evaluation team.

• Facilitate a renewal kick-off meeting to acquaint charter school leaders with the process.

• Act as a team member on the quality school reviews visits conducted by SchoolWorks consultants.

• Collect and review all data submitted with the renewal application.

• Analyze all data inputs to form a renewal recommendation.

• Prepare renewal report with final recommendations.

• Submit report to Charter School Operators to solicit responses to the renewal report.

• Present renewal report and the responses to the report to the SRC.

Charter Renewal Process: Role of the Charter School Office


Charter Renewal Process: Comprehensive Framework

Staff conducts a comprehensive review of four domains. 1. Academic Performance: Analyze the charter school’s academic

performance including the PSSA results, absolute and growth-based student performance measures.

2. Financial Health: Assess the fiscal stability and ongoing financial viability.

3. Governance/Compliance: Examine the charter school’s adherence to statutory requirements and board governance.

4. Customer Satisfaction: Measure the results of school surveys, parent complaint logs, teacher and student retention rates.


Comprehensive Review: Four Domains

Charter Renewal Process: Comprehensive Framework

• SDP Financial Audit • SDP Enrollment Audit• Independent Audits• Renewal Application• Annual Report• Renewal Site Visit

Financial Health

• PDE Special Ed Audit • Renewal Site Visit• PDE Annual Report• Renewal Application• PDE Reports

Governance & Compliance

• PSSA Results• PVAAS Data• PDE Assessment Reports• Renewal Application• Annual Report• Renewal Site Visit

Academic Performance

• SDP Survey Results • Student Retention Rates• Teacher Retention Rates • Complaint Logs• Renewal Application

Customer Satisfaction


Charter Renewal Process: Sample- Assessment Summary

School Domain AssessmentCharter School A Academic Performance

Financial Health▲Governance & Compliance Customer Satisfaction

Charter School B Academic Performance▲ Financial Health▲ Governance & Compliance Customer Satisfaction

Charter School C Academic Performance Financial Health Governance & Compliance Customer Satisfaction

Charter School D Academic Performance Financial Health▲Governance & Compliance Customer Satisfaction

Charter School E Academic Performance Financial Health Governance & Compliance Customer Satisfaction

Acceptable

▲Minor Deficiencies

Major Deficiencies


Charter School A: High-Level Summary- Sample


School is in its fourth year of Corrective Action II. Low levels of proficiency in both Reading and Math. Little growth in academic performance over time. Consistently lags District school and Charter School average

PSSA scores as well as State targets Small decreases in % of students scoring Below Basic.

Financial Health School has maintained negative fund, negative net income and negative net working capital balances during the charter term.

Governance & Compliance ▲

No major areas of concern, although some issues around truancy reporting and regular evaluation of staff are of note.


School is generally a safe environment. Parents/guardians speak positively about the quality of the

learning environment.


Charter School C: High-Level Summary- Sample


• Consistently meets or exceeds state performance targets and District and charter averages in Math.

Exceeded state performance targets and District and charter averages in Reading in last three years.

Strong gains in Reading and Math proficiency levels over the past 5 years.

Good decreases in % of students scoring Below Basic.

Financial Health Good financial ratios and metrics.

Governance & Compliance

No major areas of concern.


School is a safe environment with a positive school climate. Parents/guardians routinely speak positively about the quality

of the learning environment.


Charter Renewal Process: Sample of Staff Recommendations

School Renewal Recommendation

Charter School A

Non-Renewal – based on unacceptable academic performance

Charter School B

5-Year Renewal

Charter School B 5-Year Renewal

Charter School D 5-Year Renewal

Charter School E 5-Year Renewal


Charter Renewal Process: 2011-2012 Renewal Cohort

Twenty-five charter schools have charter agreements that are set to expire this year. The twenty-five charter schools are:

*Represents schools that have submitted a Letter of Intent to apply for an expansion.** School that has submitted a letter of intent, but is not eligible to expand .


Charter Modification : 2011-2012 Third Year of Charter

CohortNine charter schools are in the third year of the current charter term.

Seven of the schools are eligible to apply for expansion.

1 Ad Prima Charter School

2 Franklin Towne Charter High School*

3 Global Leadership Academy Charter School*

4 Khepera Charter School*

5 Mariana Bracetti Academy Charter School**

6 New Foundations Charter School *

7 New Media Technology Charter School

8 Nueva Esperanza Academy Charter High School**

9 Philadelphia Performing Arts Charter School *

*Represents schools that have submitted a Letter of Intent to apply for an expansion.** School that has submitted a letter of intent, but is not eligible to expand .


Financial Scenarios: 2011-2012 Renewal & Modification

Cohort

Scenario One: The SRC does not act on the pending modification requests.

DRAFT- PENDING APPROVAL FROM THE DISTRICT’S CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

As a result of previous SRC actions, a number of charter schools eligible to apply for expansion (i.e., renewal schools and third year in the current charter term) have received conditional approval to increase student enrollment. The liability for this growth is captured in the body of this analysis. No further SRC action is assumed in this scenario.

Renewal and Third Year in the Current Charter Term Charter Schools

FY2011-12 FY2012-13 FY2013-14 FY2014-15 FY2015-16 FY2016-17 Total

Year-Over-Year Student Increase

1,321

520

150

50

100

2,141

Year-Over-Year Financial Impact to SDP

$12,327,380

$5,097,798

$1,357,248

$473,776

$945,468

$20,201,670

Cumulative Student (Increase)

19,814

21,135

21,655

21,805

21,855

21,955

Cumulative Financial Impact

$201,682,743

$187,162,176

$206,094,490

$205,705,172

$207,087,395

$207,577,598



Cohort

Scenario Two: SRC grants charter schools an expansion to enrollment and grade levels as a result of an SPI Charter-to-District ranking of 1 and 2.


This scenario assumes that the SRC grants each charter school with an SPI ranking of 1 and 2 its entire request. The analysis also includes the liability of growth granted on a conditional basis.


FY2011-12 FY2012-13 FY2013-14 FY2014-15 FY2015-16 FY2016-17 Total

Year-Over-Year Student Increase

2,457

1,195

750

400

100

4,902

Year-Over-Year Financial Impact to SDP

$23,239,394

$11,786,541

$6,786,241

$3,804,788

$945,468

$46,562,434


19,814

22,271

23,466

24,216

24,616

24,716


$201,682,743

$197,222,088

$218,450,637

$224,000,257

$228,433,771

$229,063,835



Cohort

Scenario Three: SRC approves all pending modification request.


This scenario assumes that the SRC grants all charter schools 100% of its modification request. The analysis also includes the liability of growth granted on a conditional basis.


FY2011-12 FY2012-13 FY2013-14 FY2014-15 FY2015-16 FY2016-17 TotalYear-Over-Year Student

Increase

3,375

2,272

1,285

940

510

8,382 Year-Over-Year Financial

Impact to SDP

$31,368,795

$22,135,785

$11,746,608

$8,927,816 $4,818,764

$78,997,769


19,814

23,189

25,461

26,746

27,686

28,196


$201,682,743

$205,351,488

$242,316,869

$252,317,841

$262,339,127

$266,584,284


Questions ?


Charter Renewal Process: Application Focus

The School District of Philadelphia’s renewal application focuses on fourbroad areas:

1. Academic Performance: Is the educational program a success?

2. Financial Health: Does the charter school have sufficient financialresources to ensure stable educational programming?

3. Governance/Compliance: Does the charter school comply with federal and state laws and regulations?

4. Customer Satisfaction: Is the charter school meeting the needs of parents, teachers, and students?


Charter Renewal Process: Criteria for Non-Renewal

1. One or more material violations of any of the conditions, standards or procedures contained in the written charter.

2. Failure to meet the requirements for student performance set forth in 22 Pa. Code Chapter 4 (replacing Chapter 5) or failure to meet any performance standard set forth in the written charter.

3. Failure to meet generally accepted standards of fiscal management or audit requirements.

4. Violations of any provisions of the Charter School Law.

5. Violation of any provision of law from which the charter school has not been exempted, including Federal laws and regulations governing children with disabilities.

6. The charter school has been convicted of fraud.


Charter Renewal Process: Quality School Reviews

In the fall of 2009, the School District engaged School Works, an educational consulting firm with a national reputation for evaluating school performance, to develop and implement a site visit protocol for charter schools under renewal.

The Renewal Site Visit (RSV) was designed to increase the transparency and consistency of the renewal process for charter schools authorized by the School District.

The purpose of the RSV is to provide information to the School District on issues that may affect the renewal of a charter and to provide guidance to charters on how they may improve their performance over time.

0 The School District of Philadelphia Charter School Renewals School Reform Commission Overview...

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