Monday, October 5, 2020

Hearings tomorrow for Success Academy charter revisions & comments from District 2 CEC members demanding more transparency

UPDATE 10/6/20 - There was NO discussion or vote on the Success Academy revisions at the SUNY charter committee meeting today; one can only assume that they were accepted without any vote of the committee.  One might ask what is the point of public hearings and submitted testimony without any acknowledgement or even awareness of public input by SUNY Committee members.

Hearings on several matters including revisions to enrollment of 19 (!) Success Academy charter schools will be held by the SUNY charter committee tomorrow Tuesday Oct 6, 2020.  The meeting will start at 9 AM and will be webcast here.  The agenda is here and the proposed Success Academy revisions are included in a document entitled SUNY Charter Schools Institute Update.   

For more on these revisions, which include evidence of high attrition rates including elimination of all three originally planned Brooklyn HS , see the analysis by Brooke Parker here.  

Below is testimony submitted by six members of CEC2.

Testimony for the SUNY Charter Institute on 

Charter School Revision Application by Success Academies in 

Community School Districts 2, 3, 14 and 15

 

September 30, 2020

Thank you for the opportunity to submit this testimony.  We submit the below testimony as individual members of the Community Education Council District 2 (CECD2). Due to the timing of the charter revision notice, which was released after the September monthly meeting, the CECD2 is unable to issue an official statement. Thus while the majority of members signed this testimony it does not represent the official position of the CECD2.  

We are against the proposals for charter school revisions submitted by Success Academies Harlem 1, Bed-Stuy 2, Cobble Hill and Wiliamsbsurg.

  1. Our comments from 2019 are still relevant

In a comment letter submitted by Shino Tanikawa and Ushma Neil on October 3rd, 2019, appended to this comment letter, we listed three reasons for opposing the revision proposal submitted by SA Union Square, Hell’s Kitchen, Harlem I & III and Upper West.  We understand the group of schools included in the current revision proposals are not the same but the substance of the 2019 comments remains very much relevant. 

1.a. Academic year and proposal timeline

Nowhere on the 2-page notice sent by the NYC Department of Education is there indication of the academic year for which the proposal is submitted.  We can only hope that this is for the academic year 2021-2022, since the current year is already underway, even if SA has announced 100% remote learning for all its students. 

Please ensure all future notices clearly state the timeline of the proposal and the academic year for which the proposal is submitted. 

1.b. Organizational & building capacity data

Below is the Enrollment, Capacity and Utilization Report data from December 2019, with grade spans served in each building added (we are making assumptions since grade span information is not in the Blue Book).  When submitting revision proposals, SA and the DOE should be required to provide this information.  While building utilization might be a separate process under the CR A-190, this information is crucial in understanding why these revision proposals are submitted and whether the proposed changes are feasible or sound.  

From the revision notice, we understand SA Bed-Stuy 2, Cobble Hill and Williamsburg will send their 9th graders to Harlem 1, presumably at Norman Thomas but it is not stated.  Harlem 1 is slated to add 118 students to Grade 9. It is unclear if the available seats at Norman Thomas (392 according to the Blue Book as of December 31, 2019) are sufficient to accommodate this and the future increases.  Bed-Stuy 2, Cobble Hill and Williamsburg will all serve K - 4 without the 9th grade under the proposal.  

CSD

Org ID

Org Name

Bldg ID

building name

Grades

Enrollment

Target Capacity

Target Utilization

# Seats

2

M351

SA - Harlem 1

M620

Norman Thomas HS

9 - 12

391

783

50%

392

3

M351

SA - Harlem 1

M088

I. 88

5 - 8

309

392

79%

83

3

M351

SA - Harlem 1

M149

PS149 (tandem M207) 

K - 4

393

315

125%

-78

3

M351

SA - Harlem 1

M207

PS 207 (tandem M149)

K - 4

115

299

38%

184

14

K125

SA - Bed-Stuy 2

K059

PS 59

K - 4, 9

346

312

111%

-34

14

K182

SA - Williamsburg

K050

JHS 50 

K - 4, 9

426

562

76%

136

15

K129

SA - Cobble Hill

K293

JHS 293 

K - 4, 9

329

467

70%

138

 

1.c. Enrollment data

The table below is what was provided in the revision notice.  While we appreciate the addition of this information, which was not provided in prior years, we request more granular data, broken down by grade.  In addition, please clarify if the “Authorized Grades & Enrollment” means the enrollment numbers are what was authorized under the charter application or if they are the actual enrollment numbers.  If the latter, please provide the academic year.  

 

Harlem 1

(D2, D3)

Bed-Stuy 2

(D14)

Cobble Hill

(D15)

Williamsburg

(D14)

Authorized Grades & Enrollment

Grades K-12

1,633 Students

Grades K-4, 9

453 Students

Grades K-4, 9

460 Students

Grades K-4, 9

483 Students

Proposed Authorized Grades &

Enrollment

Grades K-12

1,751 Students

 

+118 in Grade 9

Grades K-4

416 Students

 

-37 in Grade 9

Grades K-4

416 Students

 

-44 in Grade 9

Grades K-4

416 Students

 

-37 in Grade 9

 Please verify the numbers for Williamsburg. If the authorized (or actual) enrollment number is 483 and the proposed enrollment is 416, the difference is 67.  However, the table in the notice shows a decrease of only 37 students.  Where are the other 30 students being moved to? 

The table below is from the SA Harlem 1 Accountability Report for 2018-2019 school year, which includes enrollment figures for all SA schools.  While this table is for 2018-2019, the difference in enrollment figures seem quite large (the last column).  Please provide us with a similar table with up-to-date enrollment figures and make clear the difference between authorized enrollment and actual enrollment.  We request the authorized enrollment (or projected enrollment) as separate figures so that we know whether enrollment targets are being met. 

Schools

Grades

K

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

Total

Prop

Bed Stuy 2

K - 4, 9

51

72

70

79

46

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

318

453

Cobble Hill

K - 4, 9

54

56

69

72

59

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

310

460

Harlem 1

K - 12

89

87

94

83

100

88

80

63

50

258

171

134

26

1323

1633

Williamsburg

K - 4, 9

79

74

84

64

71

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

372

483

We need accurate enrollment data - both projected and actual - to understand these revision proposals better.  Lacking these data, we cannot evaluate the merits of the revision proposals. 

 

2.                   Welfare of students enrolled in SA Bed-Stuy 2, Cobble Hill and Williamsburg

We were presented with a similar proposal in 2019 whereby students from some SA schools were moved to other SA schools.  WIthout knowing the effective date of the current proposal and assuming that there are 9th grade students in SA Bed-Stuy 2, Cobble Hill and Williamsburg this academic year, were these students and their families notified that they will be attending school in Union Square? Is there guarantee that Norman Thomas Educational Campus will be able to accommodate this cohort of students through graduation?  Will this move present any hardship to any students?  If so, how will SA address grievances from families?  Will the teachers also move with the students?  

It appears this game of musical chairs has become an annual exercise for SA and we are concerned about the impact of the haphazard nature of these revision proposals on the students.  The concern is now amplified by the pandemic, which has placed additional challenges and stress on all our students. 

We recommend that the SUNY Charter Institute work with SA to develop a master plan for all its schools across the city so that these piecemeal proposals become unnecessary.  Such a plan should critically evaluate the enrollment trends and grade configuration and physical capacity of each school as well as collectively across all schools. The revision process distracts from more important issues for our students (such as whether SA is serving its fair share of students with disabilities and Multilingual Learners, or whether SA is engaged in questionable discipline practices).  

3.                   School level accountability

Considering the history of SA, we are concerned that this co-mingling of cohorts of students makes it impossible to assess individual SA schools’ performance.  Any longitudinal analyses of a given cohort will be extremely difficult when a cohort of students starts in one SA school but graduates from another.

An analysis by an education advocate has shown that attrition in SA schools can be significant.  The Class of 2020 had 350 students in second grade in 2010 but 114 Seniors in 2020.  This analysis was conducted across all SA schools because of the expansion of one SA school into several schools. Expansions and transferring students from one SA school to another make it difficult to determine the cause for this seemingly high attrition as well as attributing student performance and achievement to any one SA school.  Yet, each SA school is chartered separately with charter renewals and revisions subject to approval by the SUNY Charter Institute. How are we to know whether a given SA school is performing well when students move around?  

For these reasons, we oppose the revision proposal. We further call upon the SUNY Charter Institute to immediately conduct a thorough review and evaluation of the entire suite of Success Academy schools to ensure there is a long term, sustainable plan for all of the SA schools.  Additionally we recommend the SUNY Charter Institute consider treating all SA schools as one school with multiple sites under one charter.  When individual SA schools are allowed to shift students among themselves, such maneuvers render individual SA charters meaningless.  Finally we urge the SUNY Charter Institute to reconsider the entire charter process for charter schools seeking or already sited in DOE facilities.  We are not able to evaluate any charter proposals without knowing whether physical facilities are able to accommodate such proposals.  Having two separate yet interdependent processes - charter approval and co-location/building utilization approval - thus does not allow sound decision making.  In the end we must remember it is the students and their families who pay the price for this flawed process.  As advocates, we are willing to work with the SUNY Charter Institute and the state legislature to create a better process. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Shino Tanikawa, Manhattan Borough Appointee

Robin Broshi

Eric Goldberg

Emily Hellstrom

Edward Irizarry

Ushma Neil, Manhattan Borough Appointee

 

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