Charter School Renewals School Reform Commission Overview December 16, 2011

1. Charter School RenewalsSchool Reform Commission Overview December 16, 2011

2. Five (5) Year Renewal Five (5) Year Renewal with performance targets* One (1) Year Renewal** Non- Renewal 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. Renewal Review Options * 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).

3. Charter Renewal Process: 2011-2012 Renewal Timeline 12/15: District receives Renewal Site Visit Reports 12/16: Renewal Update Renewal Kick-Off Meeting 12/20: SPI Scores distributed to Charter Schools Appeal SPI 1/11 : Charters provide feedback on SPI Prep for Renewal Site Visits Charter Schools Complete Application 1/18: Renewal Update SchoolWorks Renewal Site Visits 2/15: Preliminary Rec. sent to SRC 2/15: Charter Schools receive a copy of the Renewal Report 2/24: Charters submit feedback on Renewal Report 11/15: Applications Due CSO creates renewal reports/recommendations CSO Reviews Applications 3/21: SRC Vote Note: Charter School Modification deliverables align to the renewal tasks/deadlines.

4. Charter Renewal Process: Role of the Charter School Office • 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. Data and materials collected/reviewed by renewal evaluation team.

5. Charter Renewal Process: Comprehensive Framework • Staff conducts a comprehensive review of four domains. • Academic Performance:Analyze the charter school’s academic performance including the PSSA results, absolute and growth-based student performance measures. • Financial Health:Assess the fiscal stability and ongoing financial viability. • 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.

6. Financial Health Academic Performance • SDP Financial Audit • SDP Enrollment Audit • Independent Audits • Renewal Application • Annual Report • Renewal Site Visit • PSSA Results • PVAAS Data • PDE Assessment Reports • Renewal Application • Annual Report • Renewal Site Visit Customer Satisfaction Governance & Compliance • PDE Special Ed Audit • Renewal Site Visit • PDE Annual Report • Renewal Application • PDE Reports • SDP Survey Results • Student Retention Rates • Teacher Retention Rates • Complaint Logs • Renewal Application Charter Renewal Process: Comprehensive Framework Comprehensive Review: Four Domains

7. Charter Renewal Process: Sample- Assessment Summary

8. Charter School A: High-Level Summary- Sample

9. Charter School C: High-Level Summary- Sample

10. Charter Renewal Process: Sample of Staff Recommendations

11. 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 .

12. Charter Modification : 2011-2012 Third Year of Charter Cohort Nine charter schools are in the third year of the current charter term. Seven of the schools are eligible to apply for expansion. *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 .

13. Financial Scenarios: 2011-2012 Renewal & Modification Cohort Scenario One: The SRC does not act on the pending modification requests. 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. DRAFT- PENDING APPROVAL FROM THE DISTRICT’S CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

14. Financial Scenarios: 2011-2012 Renewal & Modification 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. DRAFT- PENDING APPROVAL FROM THE DISTRICT’S CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

15. Financial Scenarios: 2011-2012 Renewal & Modification 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. DRAFT- PENDING APPROVAL FROM THE DISTRICT’S CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

16. Questions ?

17. Charter Renewal Process: Application Focus • The School District of Philadelphia’s renewal application focuses on four • broad areas: • Academic Performance:Is the educational program a success? • Financial Health:Does the charter school have sufficient financial • resources to ensure stable educational programming? • 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?

18. Charter Renewal Process: Criteria for Non-Renewal • One or more material violations of any of the conditions, standards or procedures contained in the written charter. • 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. • Failure to meet generally accepted standards of fiscal management • or audit requirements. • Violations of any provisions of the Charter School Law. • 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.

19. 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.