Source: http://www.counsel.nysed.gov/Decisions/volume54/d16743
Timestamp: 2020-07-11 09:21:33
Document Index: 786676795

Matched Legal Cases: ['§2853', '§2851', '§276', '§2853', '§2853', '§2853', '§2853', '§2853', '§2853', '§2853', '§2853', '§2853', '§2853', '§2853', '§2853', '§2853']

Decision No. 16,743 | Office of Counsel
Decision No. 16,743
Appeal of COLLEGIATE ACADEMY FOR MATHEMATICS AND PERSONAL AWARENESS CHARTER SCHOOL from action of the New York City Department of Education regarding school utilization.
BERLIN, Acting Commissioner.--Petitioner, Collegiate Academy for Mathematics and Personal Awareness Charter School (“CAMPA” or “the school”), challenges the New York City Department of Education’s (“DOE” or “respondent”) failure to offer it a co-location site in a public school building or space in a privately owned or publicly owned facility at DOE’s expense and at no cost to petitioner, as required by Education Law §2853(3)(e). The appeal must be sustained in part.
Petitioner is a charter school originally authorized to serve students in grades five through eight and scheduled to commence instruction in the 2015-2016 school year in Community School District (“CSD”) 19. Its initial charter was issued on December 17, 2013 for a five year term in accordance with Education Law §§2851(2)(p) and 2853(1)(a). In his affidavit, petitioner’s board chair states that petitioner requested and was granted a planning year from the New York State Education Department (“Department”), postponing the opening of the school for instruction to the 2015-2016 school year. In addition, petitioner’s board chair avers that in the fall of 2014, petitioner filed a request with the Department to amend its charter to serve students in grades six through eight, as opposed to grades five through eight, and that the request is currently pending. He further states that it is petitioner’s expectation that the request will be approved, that the school will commence instruction in 2015-2016 serving students in sixth grade and that the school will add grade seven in 2016-2017 and grade eight in 2017-2018. Pursuant to §276.6 of the Commissioner’s regulations, I take administrative notice that at its April 2015 meeting, the Board of Regents approved CAMPA’s request to revise its charter to change the grades served such that CAMPA will serve students in grade 6 in its first year and will grow to serve a maximum of 375 students in grades 6 through 8 in the fourth and fifth years of its charter term.
By letter to DOE dated November 29, 2014, petitioner indicated its intention to begin serving sixth grade students in the 2015-2016 school year and requested co-location in a public school building in accordance with Education Law §2853(3)(e). On February 19, 2015, DOE responded to petitioner’s November 29, 2014 request for co-location space indicating that it would “not be extending an offer of space at this time.” This appeal ensued.
Petitioner asserts that DOE failed to offer it facilities in violation of Education Law §2853(3)(e) and that such failure was arbitrary and capricious or an abuse of discretion. As relief, it seeks an order directing DOE to pay rental assistance in accordance with Education Law §2853(3)(e)(5) beginning with the 2015-2016 school year and continuing thereafter.
Petitioner asserts that DOE failed to offer it a co-location space in a public school facility or space in another public or private facility at no cost to petitioner, in violation of Education Law §2853(3)(e). Education Law §2853(3)(e) provides that in the City School District of the City of New York, charter schools that are approved by their charter entity to first commence instruction for the 2014–2015 school year or thereafter and request co-location in a public school building shall be provided access to facilities. The statute also requires that, within the later of five months after a charter school’s written request for co-location and 30 days after the charter school’s charter is approved by the charter entity, the city school district shall offer the charter school either a co-location site in a public school building approved by the board of education as provided by law at no cost to the charter school, or space in a privately owned or other publicly owned facility at the expense of the city school district and at no expense to the charter school (Education Law §2853[3][e][1]).
Here, the record indicates that in its February 19, 2015 response to petitioner’s request for co-location space, DOE indicated that it would “not be extending an offer of space at this time.” However, in the event that DOE did not offer petitioner a co-location site in a public school building, it was nevertheless required by Education Law §2853(3)(e)(1) to offer petitioner space in a privately owned or other publicly owned facility at the expense of the city school district and at no expense to petitioner. Instead, DOE indicated in its February 19, 2015 response only that it could not extend an offer of co-located space. As it did not offer petitioner space in a privately owned or other publicly owned facility at the expense of the city school district and at no expense to petitioner, DOE failed to comply with the requirements of Education Law §2853(3)(e)(1).
In accordance with Education Law §2853(3)(e)(5), DOE is therefore required to pay rental assistance based on student enrollment in all grades for which CAMPA has been approved to provide instruction during the term of its charter (i.e. sixth through eighth grades) (Appeal of Rosalyn Yalow Charter School, 54 Ed Dept Rep, Decision No. 16,690). I note that Education Law §2853(3)(e)(5) provides for rental assistance based on current school year enrollment, not the enrollment projections set forth in the charter, for each year of the charter term. Specifically, with respect to a new charter school whose charter is granted before October 1, 2016, “if the appeal results in a determination in favor of the charter school, the city school district shall pay the charter school an amount attributable to ... the formation of the new charter school that is equal to the lesser of: (A) the actual rental cost of an alternative privately owned site selected by the charter school or (B) twenty percent of the product of the charter school’s basic tuition for the current school year and (i) for a new charter school that first commences instruction on or after July first, [2014], the charter school’s current year enrollment ...” (Education Law §2853[3][e][5]).
The record in this case indicates that CAMPA will first commence instruction in the 2015–2016 school year, during which it intends to serve approximately 125 students in sixth grade. In 2016-17 CAMPA will begin serving students in grade seven and, in 2017-18, students in grade eight. Accordingly, pursuant to Education Law §2853(3)(e)(5), DOE must pay CAMPA in each year of the charter the lesser of the actual rental cost of an alternative privately owned site selected by CAMPA or 20 percent of the product of CAMPA’s basic tuition for the current school year (e.g., the 2015-2016 school year in the first year) and CAMPA’s enrollment for the current school year (e.g., the 2015-2016 school year in the first year). As noted above, DOE is obligated to pay for all the grades in the newly-opened charter school in each year of the initial charter term; the amount payable must be based on the charter school’s actual current year enrollment (Appeal of Rosalyn Yalow Charter School, 54 Ed Dept Rep, Decision No. 16,690).
In this instance, petitioner also has not been afforded the opportunity to select an alternative privately owned site, and respondent must afford the school an opportunity to do so. Petitioner must present DOE with evidence of the actual rental cost of an alternative privately owned site so that DOE can determine whether such rental cost is less than the amount computed pursuant to Education Law §2853(3)(e)(5)(B).
Nothing herein should be construed to prevent DOE from offering CAMPA co-location space in the future.