New York State Education Department

Charter School Opening Procedures

General IntroductionBasic Finance and GovernanceCharter School Office

New York State Education Department

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July 6, 2011

11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Webinar Logistics

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Elluminate is an integrated webinar software that provides both visual and audio through your computer. If you are having technical difficulties, please contact Cheri Murray at 518-402-5623 or cmurray@mail.nysed.gov for assistance.

Please use the chat function to ask questions. We will pause to answer questions frequently.

When asked for feedback, please use the face icons to let us know whether things are making sense.

Opening Procedures Webinar Schedule

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General Introduction, Finance and Governance

Wed. July 611:00-12:00

Cliff Chuang, DirectorNYSED Charter School Office

School Health  School Safety

Tue. July 121:00-2:00

Karen HollowoodLaura Sahr

NYSED Student Support Services 

Food Service and Child Nutrition

Wed. July 2011:00-12:00

Frances O'Donnell, CoordinatorChild Nutrition Program

Special Education TBD TBD

PurposeThe NYSED Charter School Office has arranged this series of webinars to present orientation information on key topics and program office contacts for charter schools. The orientation modules are targeted for new schools opening in 2011, but are available to all interested participants. We hope to:

Provide a basic orientation to key issues – please note that t his is not comprehensive. Connect participants to contacts and resources (including a live web tour). Answer questions (or collect them and get back to you). Provide Regents-authorized schools with more specifics on Opening Procedures expectations. This will occur toward the latter part of each webinar, and other participants may log off at this time.

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Law and Regulations The NYS Charter Schools Act (Education Law Article

56), as amended in 2010, along with regulations relevant to charter schools can be found at: http://www.p12.nysed.gov/psc/article56.html

Article 56 can also be found on one page at http://www.nycsa.org/Article.aspx?ID=923 (which is good for searching for a particular word or phrase).

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CSO Website All information pertaining to charter schools can be

found at NYSED’s Charter School Office website at http://www.p12.nysed.gov/psc/

Let’s take a brief tour …

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Keeping in Touch: Update SEDREF

To make sure you get all communications from NYSED, please make sure that your school’s contact info is updated in SEDREF, NYSED’s administrative information system:

Let’s check one of your schools at: http://portal.nysed.gov/portal/pls/pref/sed_inst_qry_vw%24.startup

For assistance in updating your school’s info, see: http://www.p12.nysed.gov/sedrefupdate.html. Also please be sure to copy charterschools@mail.nysed.gov on any updates.

The Department currently maintains the contact info for the following at a charter school Board of Trustees President Chief Executive Officer (direct report to the Board of Trustees) Director of Special Education Information Officer Title I Coordinator

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Finance Information about charter school funding:

http://www.p12.nysed.gov/psc/funding.html

Bimonthly billing to districts and reporting to SED.

State intercept Process

Financial Reporting (authorizer-specific) Independent Financial Audit

Unaudited quarterly statements

Initial Statement in the fall

Filing appropriate IRS paperwork

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Grants Federal CSP start-up funding: we should hear within the

next two weeks. Will be due ASAP once we receive word.

State Stimulus Grants: Due August 1, 2011. http://p1232.nysed.gov/psc/documents/SSFGrantMemo.pdf

Title I consolidated application

http://www.p12.nysed.gov/nclb/consolidatedappupdate/ta/

Webinar for New Charter Schools 6/2/11

PowerPoint Presentation (774KB)

School wide vs. Target Assistance Program

Contact Leon Hovish at lhovish@mail.nysed.gov or 518-473-0295 for direct assistance.

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Governance Charter Contract (by authorizers)

Corporate Documents

Approval of final bylaws (by authorizers)

Disclosures of Financial Interest- use form in annual report at http://www.p12.nysed.gov/psc/form.html); (by authorizers)

Approval and resignation of board members (by authorizers)

Filing IRS Form 1023 to obtain tax exempt, 501(c)(3) status

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Other Key Applicable Laws Freedom of Information Law (FOIL):

http://www.dos.state.ny.us/coog/foil2.html

Open Meeting Law: http://www.dos.state.ny.us/coog/openmeetlaw.html

General Municipal Laws Applicable Sections 800-806: http://www.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/pubs/gmlposter.pdf

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Regents-Authorized Opening Procedures

For Regents-authorized Schools: Opening Procedures documents at http://www.p12.nysed.gov/psc/OversightPlan.html

Let’s a closer look at the items related to finance and governance.

Reminder about Prior Actions Site Visit in August

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For Further Information, Contact:

NYSED Charter School Office

charterschools@mail.nysed.gov

(518) 474-1762

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