DEPARTMEN

NT OF ED
DUCATIION
The Townsend
T
Buildingg
401 Feederal Street Suite 2
Dover, Delaware
D
19901-3 639
DOE WEBSITE
E: http://www.doee.k12.de.us

Mark T. Murphy
Secretary of Education
Voice: (3022) 735-4000
FAX: (302) 739-4654

A
April 23, 201
15
V
Via email atttachment
M
Matthew J. Urban
U
C
Chair, Board
d of Directorrs
D
Delaware Deesign-Lab High School
1179 Stanton Christiana Road
R
N
Newark, DE 19702
D
Dear Mr. Urb
ban:
P
Please be ad
dvised that, for the reaasons set fo
orth below aand with thhe assent off the State B
Board of
E
Education, th
he Departmeent of Educaation (Depaartment) hass placed the charter of D
Delaware Deesign-Lab
H
High Schooll on Formall Review, pu
ursuant to Title
T
14, Deelaware Codde, Section 5515(b), to ddetermine
w
whether the school
s
is vio
olating the teerms of its ch
harter and, iff so, whether to order remedial meassures.
T
The school was
w approveed to open grades
g
9 and
d 10 with an enrollment of 300 studdents. Howeever, unit
ccount inform
mation subm
mitted April 1, 2015 inclluded studennts enrolled in grades 9 and 10 witth a total
eenrollment of
o 137 studen
nt, or 46% of
o the total authorized
a
ennrollment. T
Title 14, Dellaware Codee, Section
5506(c)(1) req
quires that, on
o or before April 1 of each
e
school year, a charrter school shhall have ennrolled, at
a minimum, 80% of its total authorrized number of studentts. This reqquirement waas also impoosed as a
ccondition up
pon the apprroval of thee charter. The
T Board oof Directors signed an aassurance doocument,
eensuring thatt by April 1 each year the
t school [w
would have] enrolled at least 80% oof the total auuthorized
nnumber of sttudents and that it [wou
uld have] nottified each sschool distriict of inform
mation aboutt enrolled
sstudents. Additionally,
A
this requireement was discussed
d
byy the charterr holder in tthe approved charter
aapplication.
T
This is the second year that this req
quirement was not met. Under the ooriginal charrter, Design--Lab was
sscheduled to
o open in Au
ugust 2014. Unit count informationn submitted April 1, 2014 includedd students
eenrolled in grades
g
9 and 10 with a to
otal enrollm
ment of 77 stuudents, or 255.6% of the total enrollm
ment. On
A
April 17, 2014, Design-L
Lab submitteed an application for a m
minor modiffication to deelay its start date one
yyear. Until th
hat action was
w taken, th
he Departmeent had plannned to seek the assent oof the State Board of
E
Education to
o place the ch
harter on forrmal review.
A student en
nrollment nu
umber so faar below thee total authoorized enrolllment and 880% minimuum raises
cconcerns abo
out whether the school will
w be financcially viablee. It also raisses concerns about whethher many
aareas of the approved ch
harter appliccation can bee implementted with fideelity thesee include, buut are not
llimited to: pllans for currriculum and education delivery, planns to serve sttudents withh special neeeds, plans
tto maintain economic viability and plans for ad
dministrativve and financial operatioons. In addiition, this
ssituation raisses concerns about the caapacity of bo
oth the leadeership team aand the mannagement com
mpany to
sstart and opeerate a charteer school. Fiinally, there are concernns because D
Design-Lab iis in this situuation for
a second con
nsecutive yeaar.
THE D
DELAWARE DEPARTM
MENT OF EDUCATION
N IS AN EQUAL OPPO
ORTUNITY EMPLOYE
ER. IT DOES NOT DISC
CRIMINATE ON THE B
BASIS OF RACE, COL
LOR, RELIGION, NATIIONAL ORIGIN, SEX,
SEXUA
AL ORIENTATION, GE
ENDER IDENTITY, MA
ARITAL STATUS, DIS
SABILITY, AGE, GENE
ETIC INFORMATION,, OR VETERANS STA
ATUS IN EMPLOYMEN
NT, OR ITS PROGRAM
MS AND ACTIVITIES.

Please also be aware of the provisions of 14 Del. Admin. C. 275.5.2, which states: Compliance with the
charter, including compliance with the terms of any conditions placed on the charter, is a condition
precedent to the authority to open and operate the Charter School. Failure to comply with the terms of the
charter and any conditions placed on the charter, including deadlines, operates as a forfeiture of the
authority to open the Charter School regardless of previous approval. These regulations are incorporated
into and made a part of each charter approved by the Department with the consent of the State Board. A
Charter Schools failure to comply with these regulations shall be treated as a failure on the part of the
school to comply with its charter. The current situation constitutes a failure to comply with the terms of
the charter the Department approved and therefore is a forfeiture of the authority to open the Charter School.
This matter will be referred to the Charter School Accountability Committee (CSAC) for review and
recommendations. Enclosed, please find a timeline for this process, including dates of CSAC meetings
and public hearings. Please note that there is a May 5 deadline for a revised budget and organizational
chart, which should be developed based on the final May 1 enrollment count. These documents, and any
other materials you wish the CSAC to review, should be submitted by the Charter School Office to
infocso@doe.k12.de.us.
If you have any questions, please contact me at (302) 735-4020 or Jennifer.Nagourney@doe.k12.de.us.
Sincerely,

Jennifer Nagourney
Executive Director, Charter School Office
cc:

Dr. Christina Alvarez, School Leader, Delaware Design-Lab High School

Mark Murphy, Secretary of Education
David Blowman, Deputy Secretary of Education