Monday, February 22, 2010

Charter school could face probation -- Page 1 -- Times Union - Albany NY

Charter school could face probation -- Page 1 -- Times Union - Albany NY


ALBANY -- An Albany charter school is accused of screening potential students to weed out those with academic challenges and could be put on probation this week as a result.
 
Three former employees of the Albany Preparatory Charter School claimed an administrator at the school was trying to improve the school's scores on state standardized tests by denying admission or wait-listing learning-disabled students, an investigation has found. Some parents of students who did not perform well on a reading test were counseled that the school was "not a good fit" or would have their applications denied, according to a scathing new report by the State University of New York's Charter Schools Institute.
As a result of an investigation that began almost a year ago, Institute officials made the rare probation recommendation, which means the school would have to meet a set of corrective requirements or risk having its charter revoked. The recommendation will be voted upon by the SUNY board of trustees on Tuesday. SUNY authorizes half the state's charter schools.
"The extent, specificity, and sources of the allegations are unprecedented," the report reads. "And the complainants all linked the alleged behavior to attaining higher scores on the state assessments in light of a pending (charter) renewal decision."
Many of the issues center around former Albany Preparatory principal Carol Lennon. She also is accused of threatening to fire all the employees after learning that they came forward.
Institute investigators found evidence that Lennon also was under-reporting the school's teacher attrition rates, as well as its number of violent incidents. Though some parents were told there was a waiting list, the school was dramatically underenrolled. There are now just 200 students enrolled in grades 5 through 8 out of an expected 300.
Despite the problems it found, the Institute also is recommending that the school's charter be renewed for a three-year term. That vote is scheduled to occur next month.
The school has a new principal, and immediate admission was offered to all students who were shut out, said Brian Backstrom, chairman of Albany Preparatory's board of trustees.

Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=903408#ixzz0gGykOKBG