Requests for Changes in Your School's Charter

The following is not meant to be comprehensive but rather provide general guidance about requested charter revisions.

As always, please contact the Institute with questions and/or for additional information. Generally, there are three categories of charter changes:

• Changes that the school may do on its own (no prior permission required), e.g., Number of Students in Grade, Charter Paragraph.2.2(b);

• Non-material changes, changes that appear to require permission of the SUNY Trustees but the change is either small or just outside of a permissible charter range, e.g., change in the number of trustees outlined in school by-laws and such change is not contemplated by the by-laws; or projected enrollment change for one year and the number of students is not far outside acceptable range.  Generally, in these types of situations, only Institute permission is needed.  However, the Institute does inform SED and many of these changes are the subject of SED review and agreement.  If SED is not in agreement, these requests may require a material change; and;

• Material changes require specific permission of the Board of Trustees of the State University of New York, e.g. enrollment for the life of charter; grade changes (except not teaching a grade for one year); or management company changes (moving to a different company, starting a new relationship with a management company, or ending a relationship with a management company).

Note: In the cases of changes that a school may do on its own, written notice should be provided to the Institute for its records and to verify in fact that the change does in fact qualify in this category.

• General Guidance: How to Request a Change to Your Charter