Charter Renewal

Every New York State charter school has a charter agreement (contract), signed by its board of trustees and its authorizer, that defines its terms of operation and details the promises made to students and their families. The New York Charter Schools Act of 1998 (as amended) limits the maximum length of these agreements to no more than five-years.  As a result, to continue operating, a school must apply to renew its charter at the end of each charter term.  Because the charter is for a limited period and expires unless it is renewed, it is known as a “provisional charter.”  The purpose of making charters provisional is to hold charter schools more accountable than district-run public schools, which are registered instead of chartered.

The Charter Schools Act requires that charter schools submit an application for renewal. 
Not everything, however, that the Charter Schools Institute requires in the renewal application is required by the law.  The Act permits the SUNY Trustees to require additional information.  In order to get the best sense of whether a charter school has lived up to its promises, the SUY Trustees have determined that schools should submit a number of other documents as part of their application.  In addition, the Charter Schools Institute conducts a renewal visit to schools that apply for renewal.

In short, the SUNY Trustees do not automatically grant charter renewal; a school must demonstrate that it has earned it. Only by providing: 1) a comprehensive, evidence-based, case of the school's growth and increased student achievement over the life of the charter; 2) a description of the systems the school currently has in place to continue that growth; and 3) a set of well-designed plans that will result in further growth in the future, will a school have effectively demonstrated that it deserves to continue the high privilege of educating New York State's children. Throughout the renewal process schools should feel free to contact the Institute with any questions or concerns.

New! June 17, 2011

            ***  Important Information for SUNY Authorized Charter
                         Schools Applying to Renew their Charter  ***

Applications for Initial and Subsequent Charter Renewal
are due on Monday, August 15, 2011.

• The Institute has released a revised Renewal Application to be used by SUNY authorized charter schools to apply for Initial Renewal or Subsequent Renewal.
  
                                           Click to download the

                         2011 Application for Charter Renewal

                                                 (revised 6-11)


For your convenience, the two budget files you are asked to complete as part of the Renewal Application are provide here in Microsoft® Excel:

• Renewal Functional Expenses for Last Year of Charter Term; and
  
  
  
• Renewal Five Year Budget Outlook.

 

• Institute Resources for Schools Coming to Renewal:

• SUNY Charter Renewal Benchmarks (latest version is 4.0)
  
  
• SUNY Renewal Practices (Practices, Policies and Procedures for the Renewal of Charter Schools Authorized by the State University Board of Trustees)  Revised September 2009
  
  
• SUNY Renewal Process Overview for Parents, Teachers, Community Members and Other Stakeholders