Equality Charter School

“All financial information is provided to and reviewed by the finance committee and then presented to the board as a whole.”

“Any director, principal officer or member of a committee with governing board delegated powers, who has a direct or indirect financial interest, as defined below, is an interested person. In connection with any actual or possible conflict of interest, an interested person must disclose the existence of the financial interest and be given the opportunity to disclose all material facts to the directors and members of the committees with governing board delegated powers considering the proposed transaction or arrangement.”

“The board of trustees determines the head of school's salary. Any such decisions will be captured in the board meeting minutes. Any changes to a staff member's salary will be approved by the head of school in writing or electronically and documented via a personnel action form. A copy of this form will be maintained in the employee file.”

“The school is required to file these schedules and policies with various state education agencies and in addition, the policies are part of the school's by-laws and manuals. The audited financial statements are due to the school's authorizer who makes this information available to the public.”

“Equality charter school provides a high level of academic rigor in a nurturing learning community that helps prepare scholars to be successful post high school graduation. We realize high expectations for staff and scholars by focusing on the integration of goal setting, critical thinking and problem-solving skills. As our scholars move through this progression, they develop into proficient high school graduates who are college-ready and on a trajectory to lead productive lives, in the workplace and the community.”

“Equality charter school opened its doors in the fall of 2009 in the north bronx with a college preparatory academic program and a highly structured and supportive school culture. While the school is comprised of students from many backgrounds, it is uniquely designed to close the achievement gap in middle and high school. Equality prepares students to be successful in college by focusing on the integration of goal setting, critical thinking and problem solving skills. The school's primary purpose is to provide educational services to the sixth through twelfth grade students of community school district 8 & 11. Equality charter school was founded in 2009 to serve middle school students in co-op city and castle hill neighborhoods, which are high needs areas in the bronx. We currently instruct 640 6-12th grade scholars mostly from bronx community school district 11, but also from manhattan and brooklyn.”

“General education program: equality's academic program is well aligned with the research of douglas reeves, who highlights 90/90/90 schools: 90% of the students are eligible for free or reduced lunch, 90% of the students are members of an ethnic minority group, and 90% of these students are at or above grade level in reading or another area as measured by district or state assessments. He notes that in these schools there are five common characteristics: a focus on academic achievement, clear curriculum choices, frequent assessment of student progress and multiple opportunities for improvement, an emphasis on non-fiction writing, and collaborative scoring of student work. The underlying foundation of equality's academic program focuses on reeve's research with some additional components: 1) high expectations; 2) positive school culture; 3) curriculum alignment with new york state standards; 4) data-driven decisions; 5) inclusive education; 6) emphasis on writing; 7) collaboration; 8) parental involvement; 9) life action plans, including post secondary planning and options; and 10) advisories. Equality also provides our scholars after school clubs including: film club, dance team, debate team, spelling bee club, book club, mathletes club, and anime club. Equality charter school hosts seven sports teams: track, two basketball teams, flag football, cheerleading, soccer, and volleyball.”

“Special education program: equality will provide an inclusive education setting for our second language learners and for students with disabilities. Our team members have extensive experience in creating positive, rigorous, inclusive classrooms that provide socially and academically beneficial environments for all students. Our daily professional development, data emphasis, pbis, and nurturing environment will support successful inclusion and high academic achievement for all students. While many schools have special education populations of roughly 10%, equality has a population that comprises over 20% of the student body. Equality's academic program is fully inclusive and co-taught. We provide this model to all of our students including the 21% who have disabilities. Our program also includes electives in physical education, art and life & literacy.”

“This process has not changed from the prior year.”