District/School Administration Administration
The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education

Charter Renewal - New Leadership Charter School

This month, the Board will discuss the charter renewal application of New Leadership Charter School (NLCS). The charter school regulations (at 603 CMR 1.12(1)) require that applicants for renewal of a charter be notified of the Board's decision no later than March 1. If the Board would like to discuss the renewal this month and wait until the March meeting to vote, the Board should waive the regulation that sets the March 1 deadline. Accordingly, enclosed is a motion to waive 603 CMR 1.12(1). Alternatively, the Board may choose to waive the provision of its bylaws, Article II, Section 7, that calls for discussion at one meeting and a vote at a subsequent meeting, in order to discuss and vote on this renewal at its meeting on February 26, 2008.

New Leadership Charter School

New Leadership Charter School (NLCS), a Horace Mann charter school, is located in Springfield. Under the charter school statute, a Horace Mann charter school is a public school operated under a charter approved by the local school committee and by the local collective bargaining agent, with the charter granted by the Board of Education. Horace Mann charter schools are operated and managed by a board of trustees independent of the school committee that approved the school.

The school opened in 1998 and had its charter renewed in 2003. It is chartered to serve grades 6 through 12 with a maximum enrollment of 375 students. In 2007-08, NLCS is serving approximately 490 students, which is approximately 115 students over its enrollment cap, in grades 6 through 12. The school draws 100% of its students from Springfield. The mission of NLCS is "to develop young people in the sixth through twelfth grades morally, mentally, and physically; and to imbue them with the highest ideals of duty, honor, and loyalty. Graduates will be academically prepared to attend the college or university of their choice. They will embody three cardinal principles of leadership: vision, integrity, and compassion."

Recommendation for Renewal

New Leadership Charter School has seen limited success over the first decade of its operation. The school is in Corrective Action for English language arts (ELA) and Restructuring for mathematics. Simply stated, this means that too few students in the school are achieving proficiency or approaching proficiency to meet annual performance targets. A number of fiscal, facility, and leadership issues also challenge the school. These problems notwithstanding, some improvements have been evidenced over the past two years:

• An instructional leader was hired in 2005 and a new school leader was hired in 2006.
• The school adopted a curriculum in core content areas.
• The school made adequate yearly progress in ELA and mathematics in the aggregate and for subgroups in 2007. It will move out of accountability status if it makes AYP in 2008.
• The school's attendance rate has ranged between 90.6% and 92.4% between 2003 and 2007. The four-year graduation rate in 2006 was 58.8% with a subsequent five-year rate of 76.5%. In 2007, the four-year graduation rate was 81.5%. The school reported, in 2006-07, that 96% of the students in its senior class were accepted into college.
• There is continuing parent and community support for the school, as evidenced by its increasing enrollment as well as the approval of the school committee and the local collective bargaining unit for renewal of the charter.

Accordingly, it is my recommendation that the Board of Education renew the school's charter with conditions. The conditions outlined later in this memorandum call for major improvements in several areas, including:

• academic performance by making Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in 2008 and 2009;
• organizational viability by stabilizing and improving fiscal, facility, and governance issues; and
• faithfulness to the school's charter by providing evidence of consistent implementation of the leadership component of its mission.

Basis of Recommendations Regarding the Renewal of Charters

The charter school regulations state that "[t]he decision by the Board to renew a charter shall be based upon the presentation of affirmative evidence regarding the success of the school's academic program; the viability of the school as an organization; and the faithfulness of the school to the terms of its charter" 603 CMR 1.12. Consistent with the regulations, the recommendations regarding renewal are based upon the Department's evaluation of the school's performance in these areas. In its review, the Department has considered both the school's absolute performance at the time of the application for renewal and the progress the school has made during the first four years of the current charter.

The summary document that follows this memorandum was prepared for you as a compilation of the school's record for the term of this charter. The accountability process for charter schools recognizes that in exchange for increased freedom, a school must demonstrate results within the term of its five-year charter or risk non-renewal. The evidence gathered in the attached Summary of Review is further summarized below.

I. Academic Success

• The school made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in the aggregate in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics and for subgroups in ELA in 2007.
• The school was identified for Corrective Action in ELA and Restructuring-Year 2 in math. In January 2005, the Commissioner determined that the school was Underperforming after a panel review conducted by the Department's office of Accountability and Targeted Assistance (ATA). New Leadership administrators, board members, and teachers participated in performance improvement mapping (PIM) and school improvement planning with support from ATA.
• The school has demonstrated persistently low rates of academic proficiency, despite notable improvement in 2007:
  • In ELA, 50% or fewer students reached proficiency in all tested grades for all years from 2003 to 2007;
  • In math, fewer than 20% of students have achieved proficiency for all grades in all years, with the exception of grade 10 in 2006 (30%) and 2007 (37%).
• An instructional leader was hired in the 2005-06 school year, following a significant period of time in which the school lacked instructional leadership.
• The school also hired a new head of school in 2006.
• The school lagged in developing and implementing curriculum and in aligning curriculum with the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks. Curriculum was not fully developed until the end of Year 9, when the school finalized adoption of the Springfield Public Schools' curriculum in all core content areas.
• The school has not consistently used internal or external assessment instruments other than MCAS during this second charter term that might provide additional evidence of academic success.

II. Organizational Viability

• Unplanned deficits were recorded every year from FY03 to FY06; a surplus of $60,391 is expected for FY07.
• The school's FY08 budget is based on an enrollment of 525 students, but enrollment as of October 1, 2007 was 490.
• The last audit indicates the school's net assets at negative $428,818 on June 30, 2006.
• The school has delayed payments to vendors and is making only interest payments on an outstanding $199,000 line of credit, based on information contained in the Renewal Inspection Report.
• The Department has not yet received the school's FY07 audit, which was due on or before January 1, 2008 (per M.G.L. c71 § 89 (hh)).
• The school's board of trustees and administrative leadership did not consistently take the initiative to address persistent problems, including inadequate instructional leadership, inadequate curriculum and standards, poor MCAS performance, recurring fiscal issues, and the need for a Memorandum of Understanding with the Springfield Public Schools outlining the relationship with the district, including the basis for tuition income and provision of services.
• The school's current facility is not adequate to support the educational program.

III. Faithfulness to Charter

• The school shows evidence of success in members of its graduating classes being accepted to college (part of the school's mission). In its 2006-07 Annual Report, the school states that 96% of the 28 students in the 12th grade were accepted to college.
• The school demonstrates inconsistent implementation of the character education and leadership elements of its mission.
• The school currently enrolls 490 students, which exceeds the charter's enrollment limit of 375 students.
• The school has not provided a 230-day school year as proposed in its charter; it provided a 180-day school year in 2006-07 after Department intervention to ensure compliance with the minimum state standard.
• The Department's March 2007 Coordinated Program Review found:
  • several ongoing programmatic issues related to the implementation of special education;
  • non-implementation of criteria related to English Language Learner identification, assessment, or services for Limited English Proficient students;
  • the school's required Corrective Action Plan is overdue.
• The Renewal Inspection Report from October 2007 noted that the school provides inclusion and pull-out services for students with disabilities and operates a Student Teacher Assistance Team. The report also noted that some staff had been trained to perform language proficiency testing of potentially limited English proficient students, but indicated that actual assessments had not yet been performed.
• The school did not operate with or provide evidence of progress against a required Accountability Plan throughout the charter term.

Conditions for Renewal

I recommend that the following conditions be imposed on renewal of the charter for New Leadership Charter School in accordance with General Laws chapter 71, section 89, and 603 CMR 1.00:

1. No later than March 31, 2008, New Leadership Charter School shall submit all of the following items to the Charter School Office at the Department:

   • A charter school Accountability Plan, including goals and annual benchmarks regarding academic success, organizational viability, and faithfulness to charter. The Accountability Plan must be aligned to the school's current District Plan for School Intervention and School Improvement Plan, and must include as goals that the school will annually achieve Adequate Yearly Progress in the aggregate and for all statistically significant subgroups in English language arts and mathematics.
   • All relevant amendments to its charter, as determined through work with the Charter School Office, in accordance with 603 CMR 1.11.
   • The bylaws of the board of trustees.

   The School shall work with the Charter School Office to receive approval of these items by the Department no later than June 30, 2008.

2. No later than June 30, 2008, New Leadership Charter School shall submit all required documentation and must provide evidence that it has taken corrective actions required by the Department's Program Quality Assurance Unit based upon the most recent Coordinated Program Review of the School.

3. By December 2009, New Leadership Charter School shall demonstrate that it is an academic success by:

   • providing evidence to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education that the school has met or is making substantial progress toward meeting all benchmarks in its 2008-2013 Accountability Plan; and
   • making Adequate Yearly Progress in the aggregate and for all statistically significant subgroups in English language arts and mathematics in 2008 and 2009.

4. By January 2010, New Leadership Charter School shall demonstrate significant improvement in its financial condition in both FY08 and FY09 as evidenced by:

   • unqualified audit opinions with no material weakness findings;
   • annual surpluses as determined by audited income statements;
   • current assets exceeding current liabilities as determined by audited balance sheets; and
   • positive unrestricted net assets balances.

5. By December 2009, New Leadership Charter School shall provide evidence, written and as documented through the site visit process, of consistent implementation of the leadership component of its mission, integrated across the school and school community.

6. By September 30, 2008, the New Leadership Charter School Board of Trustees shall have received approval from the Commissioner for the minimum number of members required in the approved bylaws of the school through the identification and recruitment of additional members who bring appropriate educational and financial expertise to the school. Requests for approval must be submitted to the Department no later than September 1, 2008.

7. By January 2010, New Leadership Charter School and the Springfield Public Schools shall complete all activities necessary to permit a relocation of the school to an adequate, programmatically accessible facility no later than September 2010. These activities include, but are not limited to, the School conducting all necessary property acquisition, fundraising, and negotiations.

These conditions give the school until January of 2010 to demonstrate satisfactory progress through annual results from the MCAS, site visits by the Charter School Office, information submitted by the school in its annual reports, and other means as necessary.

Enrollment Cap

As noted earlier, the school currently has an enrollment of approximately 490 students, significantly above the 375-student cap set by the Board of Education at the time of the school's last charter renewal. The school requested an amendment to its charter in March 2006 to increase its maximum enrollment to 525 students, but Commissioner Driscoll declined to take the request to the Board due to the school's Underperforming designation. No further action was taken at that time.

I recommend that the Board renew the school's charter with an enrollment cap of 500 students. This will allow the school to maintain its current level of enrollment, and recognizes that any requirement to reduce enrollment will exacerbate the school's financial problems.

Enclosed is the Department's Summary of Review, which summarizes information from a number of sources, including Charter School Office site visits in the school's seventh, eighth, and ninth years; visits facilitated by the Department's Accountability and Targeted Assistance (ATA) unit related to the school's identification as Underperforming, the school's annual reports and financial audits; information from the Department's Program Quality Assurance (PQA) unit; the renewal inspection report prepared under contract to the Office of Education Quality and Accountability (EQA); and other relevant documents. If you need copies of any of these source documents, or any other information, please contact me, Associate Commissioner Jeff Wulfson, or Director of Charter Schools Mary Street.

Enclosure:    Summary of Review