11 city charter hopefuls move to next round of application process

A single-sex school, a school that offers the International Baccalaureate diploma, and a Staten Island high school for students at risk of dropping out are among 11 prospective New York City charter schools that the State Education Department invited this month to submit full applications to open in 2015.

Thirty-four schools across the state submitted letters of intent, and 17 were chosen to continue to this next round of the application process. The Board of Regents will make a final decision on the schools in November. Schools given the green light will get support finding space from New York City, in keeping with recent legislation.

None of the city schools angling for approval from the State Education Department are part of national charter networks. Many are locally-based, such as the proposed New Ventures Charter School, which would target overage students in Staten Island who are not on track to graduate. The application notes that while there are thousands of such students in the borough, Staten Island has only one transfer school to serve them.

Some charter applicants represent small-scale expansions. Steve Perry, the principal of Capital Prep Magnet School in Hartford, Conn., has applied to open a version of the school here. Perry, whose personal website calls him “America’s most trusted educator,” has assembled high-profile board members such as sports media personality Stephen A. Smith.

Other proposed school models include the single-sex school, the Sankofa School for Boys in Harlem, and the Sofara International Charter School, which would be one of the few charters in the city to offer an IB program.

In their letters of intent, schools outlined their missions, enrollment plans, and initial board members. In accordance with new state regulations that require charters to serve the same demographics as district schools, the letters also broadly described how the schools would recruit high-need students.

Hi-Tech Healthcare Charter School, for example, wrote that it would distribute recruitment materials in Spanish to target English language learners and would work with organizations that support students with disabilities.

The schools that the State Education Department is ushering toward operation are only some of the charter schools that hope to open in the city. SUNY’s Charter Schools Institute can also sign off on new schools, and this month, 17 of the 18 schools that submitted letters of intent filed full proposals.

While SUNY invited all 18 proposed charters to apply, one school opted out. This applicant was the Washington Heights Leadership Academy School, which aimed to “carry forward some of the legacy” of Mother Cabrini High School after it closed in June, according to Democracy Prep founder Seth Andrew, who grew up in the neighborhood and submitted the letter.

Andrew said he nixed plans to apply after losing Cabrini’s former facility, which was leased to Success Academy in a deal with the city after Mayor Bill de Blasio pulled one of the network’s schools from a public school site.

Fourteen Success Academies hoping to open over the next two years are among SUNY’s current batch of charter school proposals, along with three Achievement First schools.

These schools, and the 11 being considered by the State Education Department, would serve over 16,800 students at full capacity.

Last month, SUNY picked six charter schools to start up in 2015, and the Board of Regents approved one.

By the end of the five-year charter period, enrollment at these seven schools is expected to top 3,100.

This article has been clarified to reflect the status of SUNY’s charter school applicants.