As it seeks extension and/or renewal of its type-5 charter, ARISE Academy has received a glowing initial assessment report from the Recovery School District’s Office of School Performance, ARISE board members learned at their monthly meeting, April 18.
Present at the meeting, RSD’s deputy superintendent of portfolios Adam Hawf announced that his office finds Arise operations and financial records in compliance with state rules and no “immediate financial risk” going forward.
The office of School Performance will make several visits to ARISE over the next few months as part of the review process. These qualitative assessments along with quantitative metrics, such as test scores, will be the basis of the charter extension decision.
As things stand, Hawf said, ARISE is set to qualify for either a standard extension or probationary extension.
According to BESE’s Bulletin 126 which governs charter school operations, BESE is required to grant an extension to a charter if all of the following criteria are met: a) Financial risk assessment in year 3 does not require “dialogue”; b) No violation of legal or contractual standards by the charter, and c) The school meets at least one of the following performance standards: an SPS score in year 3 above Academically Unacceptable School (AUS) status or Assessment Index in year 3 is above AUS status.
The school’s performance score for the 2010 – 2011 year was 67.1. That’s 7.9 points below the state mandate of 75. Its Assessment Index, based solely on test data, was 73.1.
“We are pretty confident we will continue to improve this year as [we] have done every year,” ARISE principal Andrew Shahan told the board. “We might not hit the 75- point target with the SPS, but our assessment index should be above 75.”
Hawf said his office will make its final recommendation to BESE in October 2012.
In other news, Shahan said ARISE is still confirmed to have exclusive use of its current location after Drew Elementary vacates at semester’s end. The school will stay in place for the 2012-2013 school year and then will move temporarily to Carver Elementary while the building is renovated.
The next board meeting is May 16.