§ 2857 — Notice; review and assessment

§ 2857. Notice; review and assessment. 1. The board of regents shall\ndistribute information announcing the availability of the charter school\nprocess described in this article to each local school district and\npublic postsecondary educational institution. At each significant stage\nof the chartering process, the charter entity and the board of regents\nshall provide appropriate notification to the school district in which\nthe charter school is located and to public and nonpublic schools in the\nsame geographic area as the proposed charter school. Such notification\nshall be provided by each charter entity within thirty days of its\nreceipt of an application for formation of a new charter school or for\nrenewal of an existing charter school, and at least forty-five days\nprior to initial approval of the charter application by the charter\nentity. Prior to the issuance, revision, or renewal of a charter, the\nschool district in which the charter school is located shall hold a\npublic hearing to solicit comments from the community in connection with\nthe foregoing. Such hearing shall be held within the community\npotentially impacted by the proposed charter school. When a revision\ninvolves the relocation of a charter school to a different school\ndistrict, the proposed new school district shall also hold such hearing.\nIn addition, such school districts shall be given an opportunity to\ncomment on the proposed charter to the charter entity and such charter\nentity shall consider any comments raised and submit any such comments\nto the board of regents with the application for issuance, revision, or\nrenewal of a charter.\n 1-a. In the event the school district fails to conduct a public\nhearing, the board of regents shall conduct a public hearing to solicit\ncomments from the community in connection with the issuance, revision,\nor renewal of a charter.\n 2. Each charter school shall submit to the charter entity and to the\nboard of regents an annual report. Such report shall be issued no later\nthan the first day of August of each year for the preceding school year\nand shall be made publicly available by such date and shall be posted on\nthe charter school's website. The annual report shall be in such form as\nshall be prescribed by the commissioner and shall include at least the\nfollowing components:\n (a) a charter school report card, which shall include measures of the\ncomparative academic and fiscal performance of the school, as prescribed\nby the commissioner in regulations adopted for such purpose. Such\nmeasures shall include, but not be limited to, graduation rates, dropout\nrates, performance of students on standardized tests, college entry\nrates, total spending per pupil and administrative spending per pupil.\nSuch measures shall be presented in a format that is easily comparable\nto similar public schools. In addition, the charter school shall ensure\nthat such information is easily accessible to the community including\nmaking it publicly available by transmitting it to local newspapers of\ngeneral circulation and making it available for distribution at board of\ntrustee meetings.\n (b) discussion of the progress made towards achievement of the goals\nset forth in the charter.\n (c) a certified financial statement setting forth, by appropriate\ncategories, the revenues and expenditures for the preceding school year,\nincluding a copy of the most recent independent fiscal audit of the\nschool and any audit conducted by the comptroller of the state of New\nYork.\n (d) efforts taken by the charter school in the existing school year,\nand a plan for efforts to be taken in the succeeding school year, to\nmeet or exceed enrollment and retention targets set by the board of\nregents or the board of trustees of the state university of New York, as\napplicable, of students with disabilities, English language learners,\nand students who are eligible applicants for the free and reduced price\nlunch program established pursuant to paragraph (e) of subdivision four\nof section twenty-eight hundred fifty-one of this article.\n 3. The board of regents shall report annually to the governor, the\ntemporary president of the senate, and the speaker of the assembly the\nfollowing information:\n (a) The number, distribution, and a brief description of new charter\nschools established during the preceding year;\n (a-1) A list including the number of charter schools closed during the\npreceding year, and a brief description of the reasons therefor\nincluding, but not limited to, non-renewal of the charter or revocation\nof the charter;\n (b) The department's assessment of the current and projected\nprogrammatic and fiscal impact of charter schools on the delivery of\nservices by school districts;\n (c) The academic progress of students attending charter schools, as\nmeasured against comparable public and nonpublic schools with similar\nstudent population characteristics wherever practicable;\n (d) A list of all actions taken by a charter entity on charter\napplication and the rationale for the renewal or revocation of any\ncharters; and\n (e) Any other information regarding charter schools that the board of\nregents deems necessary.\n The format for this annual report shall be developed in consultation\nwith representatives of school districts and charter school officials.\n 4. The board of regents shall review the educational effectiveness of\nthe charter school approach authorized by this article and the effect of\ncharter schools on the public and nonpublic school systems. Not later\nthan December thirty-first, two thousand three, the board of regents\nshall report to the governor, the temporary president of the senate, the\nspeaker of the assembly and the board of regents with recommendations to\nmodify, expand, or terminate that approach. Such report shall include,\nfor each charter school, a copy of the school's mission statement,\nattendance statistics and dropout rates, student performance on\nstandardized assessment tests, projections of financial stability, and,\nwherever practicable, comparisons to other public schools.\n 5. The board of regents shall on an annual basis review and make\navailable to school districts best educational practices employed by\ncharter schools.\n