Charter Renewal

The Charter Schools Act limits a charter to a maximum period of five-years.  As such, a school must seek renewal of its charter at least once during its initial 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 State University Board of Trustees to require additional information.  In order to get the best sense of whether a charter school has lived up to its promises, the State University 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 State University Board does 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-no matter what stage of renewal a school is in-please know that Institute staff stand ready to assist in any way possible.

**New! 7/14/08: Institute Releases the Third Edition
of the Charter Renewal Handbook**

• The Institute's Charter Renewal Handbook is a comprehensive resource for SUNY authorized charter schools as they plan for, and actually apply to, the Board of Trustees of the State University of New York for renewal.

• This third edition has been updated to reflect recent changes to the State University’s key renewal policy documents: the Practices, Policies and Procedures for the Renewal of Charter Schools Authorized by the State University Board of Trustees and the State University of New York Charter Renewal Benchmarks. The changes to these policy documents—designed to provide greater clarity, and where appropriate, specificity—were prompted by the 2007 revisions to the New York Charter Schools Act, the more recent delegation of increased responsibilities and authority to the State University Trustees’ Charter Schools Committee, and insights gained through the renewal experiences of both the State University Trustees and the Institute.

• Note: Applications for Initial and Subsequent Charter Renewal are due August 15, 2008.

• The Handbook includes: a Reader's Guide; a detailed FAQ focused on Renewal; the two central SUNY renewal documents (the Practices, Policies and Procedures for the Renewal of Charter Schools Authorized by the State University Board of Trustees; and the State University of New York Charter Renewal Benchmarks); a series of renewal visit resources for schools, parents, teachers and the community; and even a model renewal charter.

• The Handbook also includes the three applications available for renewal: the Application for Short-Term Planning Year Renewal; the Application for Initial Renewal (Full-Term or Short Term Renewal); and the Application for Subsequent Renewal.

• The Charter Renewal Handbook includes easy reference links to stand-alone versions of key documents. Stand-alone documents in Microsoft Word are also posted below for your convenience.
  
  

Renewal Applications

Renewal Benchmarks (latest version is 4.0)

Renewal FAQ

Renewal Process Overview for Parents, Teachers, Community
Members and Other Stakeholders

              Renewal Practices (Practices, Policies and Procedures for the Renewal

              of Charter Schools Authorized by the State University Board of Trustees)

** Note: The Second Edition of the Charter Renewal Handbook will remain posted through August 15, 2008 for those five SUNY authorized charter schools that are applying for renewal this year (per the July 13, 2008 communication from Institute Senior Vice President Dr. Jennifer Sneed). All other schools must refer to the Third Edition when they begin to prepare their renewal applications.              

The Institute Releases the Third Edition
of the Charter Renewal Handbook

* Download the latest version of
   Adobe Acrobat™ to use the interactive
   .pdf file.