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For the first time, SUNY officials are looking to reinvent a struggling charter school with new leadership rather than shutting it down and sending its students elsewhere.

Rather than closing Harlem Day Charter School for its low test scores, the SUNY Charter School Institute is trying to find a new operator to replace the school’s board, administration and staff.

“The key element here is that really the only thing that would remain would be students,” said Jonas Chartock, the institute’s executive director. The idea is that the school’s 240 students would experience less disruption if their school was restructured rather than closed.

The call for applications that SUNY released today does not explicitly name Harlem Day. But that school’s charter is up for renewal this year and its enrollment numbers match those described in SUNY’s document. Harlem Day’s progress report grade this year ranked the school as the 11th poorest-performing elementary or middle school in the city.

Chartock said that when the board realized that its low test scores made its chances for renewal slim, board members said they would rescind their renewal application if SUNY was able to find another board to take over the school.

“I do think that’s an example that other boards can learn from,” Chartock said. (more…)