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Posted on Posted on: · by Michael Lesczinski
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2026 Green Tech Charter School Renewal Recommendation Report

Districts: Albany City Public School District

Key Information

Executive Summary

Green Tech provides a single-gender educational model for young men in the Albany area serving 6th – 12th grade students after expanding to serve middle school grades during the previous charter term. The school leverages multiple local partnerships to provide internships and opportunities for its students including the New York State Legislature Senate Internship, Albany Medical College Career Pathway Program, and “I Can Achieve A Nursing Degree” Program (“ICAN”). Green Tech also engages students with high quality athletics and extracurricular programming. The school added multiple new college credit bearing courses over the charter term through a partnership with Fulton-Montgomery Community College to better prepare students for post-secondary success.

Although Green Tech is well established in its 18th year of operation, the school struggled with consistent leadership and staffing during the current charter term following the departure of a longstanding leader in 2022. The board of trustees appointed an interim leader for one year before hiring a chief executive officer (“CEO”) who transitioned out abruptly in the fall of 2024. In an effort to stabilize the school, the board appointed two veteran Green Tech instructional leaders in a co-principal model, eliminating the CEO role. With the support of an administrative team that includes a director of student support and community partnership, chief information officer, director of operations and human resources, deans of students, and instructional coaches, the principals have worked in the final years of the charter term to strengthen school culture and improve academic outcomes in English language arts (“ELA”). At the time of the renewal visit, staff member and student culture demonstrated clear improvement, as evidenced by the school’s warm, welcoming atmosphere and decreased rates of suspensions. Green Tech’s 23 percentage point decline in suspension rates from 2022-23 to 2024-25 further evidences the school’s improvements to safety and discipline.

While culture and staffing at Green Tech have stabilized since the Institute’s two evaluation visits in spring 2023 and spring 2025, mathematics instruction continues to be an area of development and focus for school leadership. Green Tech has clear systems in place to support the delivery of the academic program such as consistent curriculum and lesson planning structures. However, leaders recognize that staff member and leader turnover has hindered instructional quality assurance over the term particularly in mathematics courses. Current leaders have responded to instructional gaps by adopting a new tutoring curriculum, overhauling the mathematics curriculum, and increasing professional development over the summer. The school produced uneven results on New York State mathematics exams and Regents attainment over the term, but has posted commendable ELA and graduation outcomes, demonstrating the capacity to deliver a strong academic program.

The Institute will enhance its monitoring of Green Tech’s Accountability Plan targets in the upcoming Accountability Period to ensure the school maintains its effective program elements while urgently addressing deficiencies in the areas of mathematics performance.

Is the school an academic success?
Green Tech demonstrates success in some areas of its Accountability Plan goals, and is developing its capacity to implement a stronger academic program across all subjects. In 2025-26, the school added one full time and one part time instructional coach and was seeking a third coach at the time of the renewal visit. The instructional coaches observe new teachers regularly, review lesson plans, and conduct coaching meetings. With the support of the co-principals, instructional coaches also work to provide teachers with more consistent, effective professional development. To improve mathematics performance, Green Tech implemented a set commercial curriculum across grade levels. The school previously relied on teacher-created materials in mathematics classrooms, and ongoing staffing changes led to inconsistencies in curricular content and pacing. The implementation of a single curriculum across classrooms supports the development of consistency and rigor in mathematics instruction. However, the school’s record of low performance throughout the term requires conditions to ensure students receive a high quality academic program that produces durable academic improvements in a subsequent charter term. Green Tech’s record of quantitative results is summarized as follows:

• In ELA, Green Tech increased its proficiency rates for tested students enrolled in at least their second year by 31 percentage points from 2021-22 to 2024-25. The school met or exceeded the district performance in the final three years of the Accountability Period.
• In mathematics, the school posted middle school proficiency rates that fell below the local district in the majority of years of the term.
• Green Tech met its graduation goal over the charter term posting four-year graduation rates that exceeded the absolute target of 75% as well as the district rate from 2020-21 through 2024-25.

Is the school an effective, viable organization?
After multiple leadership and staffing challenges during the current charter term, Green Tech is working to redevelop its capacity as an effective, viable organization. The abrupt departure of the CEO in fall 2024 created a lack of stability and negatively affected culture and morale at the school. The board and current school leaders’ efforts have led to improved culture among both teachers and students as evidenced by higher teacher retention and stronger classroom management across the school since the Institute’s previous visit in March 2025.

With continued efforts to improve instruction and academic outcomes at the school, Green Tech has the capacity to meet the goals set forth in its Accountability Plan. Leaders have made recent and planned additions to the instructional coaching team, which have helped increase the school’s capacity to support teachers with delivering effective instruction.

While conditions are necessary to improve the school’s academic program, Green Tech demonstrates operational, financial, and organizational health.

Is the school fiscally sound?
Green Tech is fiscally adequate based on the Institute’s review of the renewal documentation. The education corporation establishes strong methods of budget creation that consider all departments of the school to develop accurate revenue and expense projections. The school’s finance team meets with the board monthly to present an enrollment report and discuss financial results. The 2024-25 annual financial audit did not present any significant deficiencies or material weaknesses over financial reporting. Green Tech maintains a separate bank account with the established amounts for dissolution as required by the charter agreement.

Green Tech demonstrates a positive financial performance during the current charter term with net assets of $5.6 million and 3.4 months of cash on hand as of the 2024-25 financial audit. Green Tech endured a slight decrease in enrollment during the charter term. Although this decrease did not result in worsening fiscal performance metrics, the education corporation’s proposed budget includes adjusted enrollment projections to align with trends from the current charter term. The education corporation has maintained adequate teacher-to-student ratios and adjusted accordingly to reflect enrollment fluctuation.

If the SUNY Trustees renew the school, are the education corporation’s plans for the school reasonable, feasible, and achievable?
With ongoing urgent action from school leaders and board members, Green Tech’s plans for the future are reasonable, feasible, and achievable. The school plans to continue to maintain the current leadership and staff member structure in place, which has produced a safe, supportive school culture. Green Tech will further improve its academic program through the hiring of a third instructional coach. This role will provide additional capacity for teacher support and development. The high school plans to continue offering college courses with the goal of increasing students’ college and career readiness. The Institute’s analysis found the school’s proposed future budgets to be reasonable and feasible.

Green Tech currently occupies one facility and has no plans to move during the proposed charter term

Recommendation: Full-Term Renewal with Conditions

The SUNY Charter Schools Institute (the “Institute”) recommends the SUNY Trustees’ Charter Schools Committee approve the Application for Charter Renewal of Green Tech Charter School (“Green Tech”) for a period of five years and subject to the conditions listed below with authority to provide instruction to students in 6th – 12th grade in such configuration as set forth in its Application for Charter Renewal with a projected total enrollment of 407 students. The Institute makes this recommendation as Green Tech meets the requirements for renewal set forth in the Policies for Renewal of Not-For-Profit Charter School Education Corporations and Charter Schools Authorized by the Board of Trustees of the State University of New York (the “SUNY Renewal Policies”).

Conditions

Green Tech must meet or exceed the targets set forth in the majority of the Accountability Plan measures for 3rd – 8th grade under its mathematics goal in at least three of five years of the upcoming Accountability Period. The Institute and the education corporation will work together to codify the conditions in the school’s Accountability Plan before the end of the first year of the Accountability Period.

By July 1, 2026, the education corporation must provide a Corrective Action Plan, to be approved by the Institute, to come into compliance with teacher certification requirements under the New York Charter Schools Act of 1998 (as amended, the “Act”), inclusive of methods to assist uncertified teachers in obtaining certification, an identified system of monitoring certification status, and administrative or monetary supports offered to teachers. The education corporation must demonstrate significant improvement regarding compliance with teacher certification requirements in accordance with the Act by the conclusion of the education corporation’s next proposed renewal term