. fifitafe uf;i\l2fi1 3J21-sag CHRIS CHRISTIE DEPARTMENT or EDUCATJOIN Guvermir pg Box 53;) KIM GUADAGNO TRF--NT0N- N5 D. CERF Lt. Gawrnor June I7, 2013 Ms. Patricia Perkins-Auguste, President Board of Trustees Adelaide L. Sanford Charter School l5 James Street Newark, NJ 07l02 Dear Ms. Perkins-Auguste: After careful review and consideration I have determined that the Adelaide L. Sanford Charter School has not operated and continues to fail to operate in compliance with its charter, state statutes and regulations. I have also found that the remedial plans submitted by ALSCS in connection with its ongoing probationary status have failed to successfully address all of the issues identified by the New Jersey Department of Education ("the Department"). As a result, pursuant to .J .S.A. ISA: 36A-I7, the charter for ALSCS will be summarily revoked effective June 28, 2013. The granting of a charter represents one of the most significant actions of the Department in that academic success, governance, and sound fiscal management of its assets are placed in the hands of a charter school's trustees. In this respect, beginning with its application, a charter school must demonstrate to the Department not only an ability to provide students with a quality education, but the capacity to effectively govem and manage the school's finances. If the Department, at any time during a charter school's term of operation, loses confidence in a school's ability to meet these basic requirements, it must be ready to take action necessary to safeguard the well-being of the students the school serves as well as its assets and long-term financial interests. As a result of the serious and pervasive govemance issues identified since the school was initially placed on probation in early 20l2, its overall poor academic performance, and the school's ongoing failure to provide timely and accurate documentation and related compliance information, the Department has lost confidence in ALSCS's ability to meet the basic requirement to serve its students' best interests. ALSCS was initially placed on probation on February 3, 2012 as a result of information received from the United States Attorney's Office and special counsel to the ALSCS Board of Trustees regarding concems of potential misuse of federal funds and a potential conflict of interest of the school's former Chief Executive Officer, Frederica Bey, relating to fiscal exchanges between ALSCS, the Women in Support of the Million Man March and ACE Alliance, Inc. A review of Board minutes revealed that that the Board was not fully constituted and that the CEO of ALSCS was 1 The relationship between and ACE has been the source of much confusion. Based upon an investigation of the relevant documents by the Office of Fiscal Accountability and Compliance it appears that ACE came into existence as a result of a name change in Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation even though the name still appears to be used by all parties. As such, it would appear that there is no practical distinction between and ACE. New lersey Is An Equal Opportunity Employer 0 Printed on Recycled and Recyclable Paper Ms. Patricia Perkins-Auguste, President June 17, 2013 Page 2 also serving as the Executive Director of ACE. It was also discovered that at least one other ALSCS Board member, Ms. Bey's daughter, was also an employee and Board Chair of ACE. As a result of being placed on probation, ALSCS was directed to submit a remedial plan outlining how it intended to correct any existing issues and ensure that such problems would not occur in the future. The school was further directed to limit expenditure of funds to those costs reasonable and necessary to the ongoing day-to-day operation of the school. Simultaneously, the Department's Office of Fiscal Accountability and Compliance initiated its first investigation into the school's use of public funds and the nature of the relationship between ALSCS and OFAC's investigation revealed an improper relationship between ALSCS and ACE that existed from the time of the initial approval of the charter application on January 2006. Its report, issued in March 2012, noted that actually initiated the school's charter application, identifying Frederica Bey as the founder. ALSCS has leased its school facility from ACE from the time the school was granted a charter in 2007. In 20l l, while serving as CEO and founder of ALSCS, Frederica Bey, in her role as Executive Director of ACE, secured financing for that facility through the lease signed by ALSCS. The lease contained a provision that prevented the school from relocating or discontinuing the lease. In addition, OFAC concluded that ALSCS was paying rent for a property that was not occupied by the school and that information given by Ms. Bey to Department officials regarding her involvement with ACE contradicted documents reviewed by the investigators. Specifically, the report noted that Frederica Bey's February 2012 submission to the Department indicated that she served as the Executive Director of but was only a member of however other documents reviewed by OFAC indicated that and ACE are the same entity, ACE merely representing a name change occurring in 20l l. Additionally, Ms. Bey and her daughter, Amina, represented in February 2012 that Amina was no longer an employee or member of or however as of March 6, 2012, Amina Bey was still listed as Chairperson and Director, Event Services on website. OFAC thus concluded that Frederica Bey's relationship with ALSCS, and ACE constituted a conflict of interest and referred its report and findings to the Office of Criminal Justice and the School Ethics Commission for further consideration. ALSCS, through its CEO, Frederica Bey, submitted a remedial plan to the Department on February 21, 20l2. Following receipt of Ms. Bey's February letter and the issuance of OFAC's March 2012 report, on May I l, 20l2, the Department extended the school's probation for an additional 90 days, and identified outstanding issues that had not been addressed by ALSCS, Q, the constitution of the Board of Trustees and the continuing existence of potential conflicts of interest. In addition, the letter requested that ALSCS provide a valid signed lease for the 20l2--l3 school year approved by the ALSCS Board, along with the Board resolution approving the lease. Finally, the probation letter identified troubling academic underperformance and directed that the school submit a remedial plan detailing what measures will be taken to plan for, deliver and ensure student growth and overall achievement gains. ALSCS responded to the Department on August 6, 20l2 by providing a new remedial plan and various documents attached as exhibits. While the response did address some of the outstanding items identified in the May I letter, including the resignations of Frederica and Amina Bey from the ALSCS Ms. Patricia Perkins-Auguste, President June 17,2013 Page 3 positions, ALSCS again failed to satisfactorily respond to all of the Department requests, one of which was the request for a valid, signed, and board-approved lease for the 2012-13 school year. On October 11, 2012, the Department again extended probation for an additional 90 days. In so doing, it noted that the school had continuously failed to provide a valid, signed, board- approved lease for the 2012-13 school year and stated that the "action required remains as stated." Additionally, the Department informed ALSCS that it would monitor the progress of the implementation of the remedial plan to address the school's academic performance and would re-evaluate it based on 201 l-2012 state assessment data. On January 9, 2013, Dr. Khalfani, ALSCS Board President, requested an extension of the probationary period until February 25, 2013, in order to provide an updated 2012-13 lease. The Department responded on January 25, 2013, noting that ALSCS was violating its probation terms and directing the school to address all outstanding items identified in the Department's October 11, 2012 letter. The Department cautioned that if the issues were not addressed, the charter may be summarily revoked. On February 22, 2013, ALSCS provided a copy of a lease signed by Akil Khafani, Acting President of the Board of ALSCS and Vesta Goodwin Clark, President of ACE Alliance, Inc. dated February 20, 2012; however, the school again failed to provide the requested Board resolution approving the lease despite numerous requests by the Department. Additionally, a question arose regarding the validity of the appointment of two new Board members in December 2012. As a result of these concems, on March 28, 2013, the Office of Charter Schools requested that the OFAC initiate an investigation into whether the current lease was approved by the Board as required and whether the two members of the Board nominated by were duly appointed. On June 17, 2013, the OFAC issued its report, finding that ALSCS had not approved the February 20th lease through the necessary Board resolution, and that the school was, thus, operating without a valid lease. Moreover, in its report, OFAC found that the Board had not properly followed the procedures articulated in its Articles of Incorporation and charter for nominating and appointing the new Board members in December 2012. The OFAC findings regarding the process by which the new Board members were appointed call into question not only the validity of subsequent actions taken by the Board, including the vote in February 2013 to approve the lease, but, also, the overall legality of the Board constitution and its decision-making abilities. Finally, the Board's remedial plan to improve academic performance has been unsuccessful. By all measures used by the State of New Jersey to assess the academic quality of a charter school -- absolute, comparative, and growth measures-- the data demonstrate that ALSCS comes up short in delivering on the fundamental objective of providing a high-quality education to its students. With regard to absolute performance, the school is the lowest performing charter school in Newark based on NJ ASK scores in 201 1-2012, with only 43% of its students achieving proficiency in language arts literacy. Compared to other schools, ALSCS is only outperforming the very low Newark district averages, and is in the bottom half of its peer group of 30 schools in terms of academic performance. As for growth, the school made minimal progress during the 2011-2012 school year. Using the Student Growth Percentile (SGP) methodology that is now present in NJSMART, the school's median SGPs in language arts literacy and mathematics fall into the lower range of 'typical' growth. When combined with the school's poor absolute performance, low growth data fails to demonstrate that the academic improvements cited in the school's remedial plan have had positive effects on academic outcomes. Ms. Patricia Perkins-Auguste, President June l7, 20l3 Page 4 As detailed above, ALSCS has failed to comply with the probationary conditions imposed by the Department, has failed to implement a successful remedial plan to address the Department's long- standing concerns and has exhibited ongoing academic underperformance pursuant to the State's performance framework for charter schools. In addition, the ALSCS Board has repeatedly failed to adequately respond to Department requests for information and operate in a manner that would give the Department confidence in its ability to effectively govern the school in the best interest of its students. Thus, as a consequence of the school's failure to operate in a manner that is consistent with state and federal regulations and the mission, goals and objectives of its charter, charter is summarily revoked and the school is directed to cease operations on June 28, 2013. Accordingly, additional direction and technical assistance will be provided by Department staff with regard to the specific tasks to be completed through the dissolution process. Pursuant to N.J.S.A. the board of trustees, within 48 hours of receipt of this notification, shall provide in writing to the Commissioner a complete list of names and addresses of all students and staff currently enrolled and working in the school, so the Commissioner may send the appropriate notice to the parents or guardians. The board must also notify in writing all administrators, staff, parents, guardians, students and special education providers of the decision. It is imperative that the interests of students, parents, staff and the district of residence are protected during this process and that the process is carried out expeditiously and in accord with regulations. In that regard, it is fully expected that the charter school will work with the Essex County Office of Education, the Office of Charter Schools and the districts to effectuate a smooth transition for the charter school's students. Please be advised that this decision may be appealed to the Superior Court, Appellate Division, pursuant to P. L. 2008, c. 36. If you have any questions, please contact the Office of Charter Schools at 609-292-5850. el, Popoff Chief Innovation Officer letter c: Amy Ruck Joseph Zarra Cami Anderson