What is the “Restart” Model?

Definition

• Under the federal School Improvement Grant (SIG) regulations, the restart model is where an school district converts a school or closes and reopens a school under a charter management organization (CMO), or an education management organization (EMO) that has been selected through a rigorous review process. A restart model must enroll, within the grades it serves, any former student who wishes to attend the school.
• A CMO is a charter school operator
• An EMO is a non-profit organization that provides whole-school operational services. In NY State they’re also called Education Partnership Organizations or EPOs.

DOE Request for Proposals

• Due May 27^th at 1pm
• Meeting for applicants is May 19^th from 12:30-2 at Brooklyn Borough Hall Courtroom, 2^nd floor, 209 Joralemon Street
• “The New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) is seeking proposals from organizations qualified to provide support, coaching, and guidance to the leadership of individual schools that are selected to receive services from providers selected under this ECS. Educational Partnership Organization services refers to the support services to be provided to principals, school leadership teams and school staff in order to improve student performance and achieve school level accountability goals. A provider will not perform direct instructional or educational services, or be responsible for performing statutory duties unless otherwise noted, including those of the Panel for Educational Policy, the Chancellor, the Community Superintendents, and Principals, that may not be delegated by the NYCDOE; however, the provider will assist principals with school operation, planning, and enhancement of school programs.”
• The request for proposals outlines the responsibilities of the EPO, which are similar but more robust than the network, and are subject to the union contract. The DOE retains control over hiring and firing of school leadership and teachers.
• EPOs are supposed to take control of the schools on July 1^st What is an EPO?
• State legislation says that an EPO can receive a contract to intervene in a PLA or SURR school and will “assume the powers and duties of the superintendent of schools [ie. community district superintendent]…including but not limited to…budgetary decisions, staffing population decisions, student discipline decisions, decisions on curriculum and determining the daily schedule and school calendar...” all subject to the union contracts.
• Applicants are supposed to have a “proven record of success in intervening in low-performing schools”

What is a “rigorous review process”?

• Federal SIG guidelines say: “The rigorous review process permits an LEA (district) to examine a prospective restart operator’s reform plans and strategies. The purpose of the rigorous review process is to provide an LEA with an opportunity to ensure that the operator will use this model to make meaningful changes in a school. Through the rigorous review process, an LEA might, for example, require a prospective operator to demonstrate that its strategies are research-based and that it has the capacity to implement the strategies it is proposing.”
• SIG funds can be used to fund the “rigorous review process”

Other relevant details on the restart model

• An EMO may require all former students who wish to attend the restart school to sign student or parent/student agreements covering student behavior, attendance, and commitments regarding academic performance. A decision by a student or parent not to sign the agreement can exclude the student from attending the school implementing the restart model. A provider may not, however, require students to meet certain academic standards prior to enrolling in the school.
• An EMO can take over only some of the grades in a school, or take over all the grades gradually, a few grades at a time

What happens to the 9 PLA schools that got no SIG model this year?

• They will get $300,000 in school improvement grants
• If they are not closed next year, they will be eligible for SIG funds again next year