THESTATEEDUCATIONDEPARTMENT/THEUNIVERSITYOFTHESTATEOFNEWYORK

CommissionerofEducation

PresidentoftheUniversityoftheStateofNewYork 89WashingtonAvenue,Room111 Albany,NewYork12234

Email:commissioner@mail.nysed.gov Twitter:@JohnKingNYSED Tel:(518)4745844 Fax:(518)4734909

September 3, 2013

Dr. Pamela C. Brown, Superintendent Buffalo Public Schools 712 City Hall Buffalo, NY 14202 Dear Superintendent Brown: On August 23, 2013, you and members of your staff met with New York State Education Department (SED or the Department) staff to address remaining issues in the School Under Registration Review (SURR) plans for East High School and Lafayette High School that you submitted to me on August 12, 2013. As a result of those efforts, Buffalo Public Schools (BPS) submitted revised SURR plans for my review. This letter is to inform you that as required by Commissioners Regulation 100.18, I have approved the revised SURR plans for East High School and Lafayette High School for the 2013-14 school year. While I have approved the plans submitted as a starting point for 2013-14 school year implementation, I urge BPS, in conjunction with Johns Hopkins Talent Development, the Educational Partner Organization (EPO) for these schools, to continue refining the plans as the school year progresses. Specifically, both organizations should commit to frequent discussions regarding the integration of the BOCES Career and Technical Education program with the regular instructional program at the schools and provision of services for English Language learners and students with disabilities. Additionally, I expect that BPS will continue to add detail to its SURR Implementation Timeline and work with Department staff to finalize the methodology and data collection processes that will be used to measure the performance metrics specified in the approved SURR plan. I have directed Dr. Judy Elliott, the BPS Distinguished Educator, to assess plan implementation at both schools and to provide me with regular updates on implementation progress and achievement of performance metrics. The approval of these plans is for the 2013-14 school year only. Prior to the commencement of the 2014-15 school year, I will provide you with further information regarding my directives for East High School and Lafayette High School. The directives will be based on each schools performance on the agreed upon metrics, and implementation of the SURR plan in each school for the 2013-14 school year. At that time, if progress has been made, I will provide the school(s) with additional time to achieve their performance goals and direct that you submit an updated SURR plan for the 2014-2015 school year. However, if progress has not been made and BPS does not submit to me an acceptable closure plan, I will inform you that I intend to recommend revocation of registration for one or both of the schools to the Board of Regents.

If you have any questions regarding the information provided in this letter, please contact Assistant Commissioner of Accountability, Ira Schwartz, at ischwart@mail.nysed.gov. The Department remains committed to assisting you in your efforts to ensure that every child attending a Buffalo public school is able to meet college- and career-ready standards and looks forward to working with you to achieve this goal. Sincerely,

John B. King, Jr. Commissioner

c:

Deborah Sykes Charles Hiteshew Judy Elliott Ken Slentz Ira Schwartz Bill Clarke Owen Donovan Alexandra Pressley