Marc Sternberg Deputy Chancellor Division of Portfolio Planning Recy Benjamin Dunn Executive Director Charter Schools Office

52 Chambers Street New York, NY 10007 212-374-5419 tel 212-374-5761 fax

Date: To:

January 9, 2012 Lourdes Putz, Chairperson, Williamsburg Charter High School Board of Trustees Recy Dunn, Executive Director, New York City Department of Education, Charter Schools Office NOTICE OF INTENT TO REVOKE CHARTER

From:

Subject: cc: Marsha Spampinato, Principal, Williamsburg Charter High School Sonia C. Park, NYC DOE CSO

Pursuant to 2855 of the Education Law, I write as the designee of Chancellor Dennis M. Walcott (the Chancellor) to notify you of the New York City Department of Educations (the DOE) intent to revoke the Second Renewal Charter Agreement (the Charter) of Williamsburg Charter High School (WCHS or school) on or about Wednesday, February 8, 2012. The termination would be effective the as of June 27, 2012, the last day of the 2011-2012 school year (the Termination Date). The DOE finds that WCHS continues to be in material and substantial violation of the Charter, continues to be in serious violation of applicable laws and regulations, has a historical pattern of inadequate oversight, and has failed to fully comply with the terms, conditions and intent of the probation order issued to WCHS on September 16, 2011 (the Notice of Probation), the remedial action plan dated October 27, 2011 (the Remedial Action Plan), and the revised Remedial Action Plan dated November 10, 2011 (the Revised Action Plan) (see attached Notice of Probation, Remedial Action Plan, and Revised Action Plan; the conduct described in the attached documents is expressly incorporated herein by reference as additional reasons supporting revocation of the Charter). The school has thirty (30) calendar days from the date of issuance of this notice to correct the material and substantial violations of the Charter, serious violations of applicable laws and regulations, and failure to comply with the terms of the Notice of Probation, Remedial Action Plan, and Revised Action Plan, as identified below. The Charter shall be revoked unless the WCHS board resolves all of the material and substantial violations of the Charter, fully complies with applicable laws and regulations, and meets all of the terms of 1 the Notice of Probation, Remedial Action Plan, and Revised Plan, as set forth below. Background th Williamsburg Charter High School opened in 2004 with 9 grade. It is currently functioning at scale as a 9-12 school. Previously housed in a DOE facility, it relocated in 2010-11 to private leased space at 198 Varet Street, Brooklyn in District 14. The school earned a C
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Section 2855 of the Education Law permits a chartering entity to summarily terminate its charter agreement with any school on probationary status if that school fails to comply with the terms and conditions of its remedial action plan. WCHS has been on probation since September 16, 2011, and is subject to the Remedial Action Plan dated October 27, 2011 and the revised Remedial Action Plan dated November 10, 2011. The material and substantial violations of the Charter and violations of applicable laws and regulations identified in this notice also constitute violations of the terms and conditions of the Remedial Action Plan and revised Remedial Action Plan. Accordingly, the Education Law authorizes the Chancellor to summarily terminate the Charter at any time. Although the Chancellor is not exercising the right to summarily revoke the Charter at this time, he expressly reserves the right to do so in the future if WCHS is not in compliance with the Remedial Action Plan and revised Remedial Action Plan.

on its progress report in 2010-11, a D in 2009-2010, a C in 2008-2009 and a B in 20072008. WCHSs Board of Trustees holds ultimate responsibility for the Schools academic and operational performance. During WCHSs initial and renewal charter periods, the CSO has had continuing concerns regarding the independence and capacity of its board, and the leadership of its CEO, Eddie Calderon-Melendez. In its first year of operation, the school struggled to stay afloat financially and suffered from ineffective board governance. In 2006 the School received a Notice of Deficiency for issues concerning: the lack of evaluations for staff and leadership, including that of the chief executive officer (Mr. Calderon-Melendez) and chief instructional officer/principal (Marsha Spampinato); the Schools financial stability; conflicts of interest on the Board; and the Boards structure and oversight capacity. The School was placed on a Performance Improvement Plan at that time. Board and structural instability continued that year with the resignation of five board members and the termination of the Schools institutional partner, Saint Nicholas Neighborhood Preservation Corporation, which helped found the school. Nancy Zapata, Chair of the Board of St. Nicholas and a WCHS board member, stated in her resignation letter sent on behalf of the St. Nicholas representatives (November 29, 2006): The resignation reflects our lack of confidence in the Charter School Boards ability to meet its obligations under the charter. Further, we do not believe the board, as it is currently constituted, is able to live up to mandates outlined in the NYC Department of Educations letter of 7/20/06 [the notice of deficiency] The resignation letter alludes to accusations of impropriety that were made against Mr. Calderon-Melendez, as CEO and board member of WCHS. Mr. Calderon-Melendez was confronted by members of the board for using the school credit card for personal use, including the purchase of alcohol and other non-school related items. According to board minutes, when confronted by the Chairwoman of the Board, Anita Batisti, regarding these improprieties, Mr. Calderon-Melendez engaged in abusive behavior and bullying of other board members who expressed concern. She resigned soon afterwards along with the four board members mentioned above. CSO was never informed of the reasons for these resignations. During WCHSs third year of operation (2006-2007), the New York State Education Department (NYSED) performed its oversight site visit; NYSEDs report found similar and additional concerns with WCHS management and board governance. For example, the School was cited for non-compliance under Title I and IIA regarding its reimbursable program and its claims for approximately $215,831 were rejected. NYSED also expressed concerns regarding the Boards ability to comply with its Charter and the Charter Law. At least on one occasion, NYSED noted that the Board voted to enact changes to its by-laws and partnership relationship without CSO approval. The CSO recognizes that the board was able to partially re-populate its board membership (a student, an employee, and a parent were added as trustees) and the School was granted a 5-year renewal in 2009. However, after the renewal in 2009 the Board entered into a contractual relationship with the Believe High School Network (Believe Network), a charter management organization that was created by Mr. Calderon-Melendez and other WCHS board members, the problems continued. Though WCHS states that the relationship was approved by the WCHS Board in August 2009, the

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arrangement was denied approval by the CSO based on serious concerns raised by SED regarding the propriety, utility, and structure of the Network vis--vis WCHS, and was never submitted to the Board of Regents for approval. During his time as CEO of WCHS (2004-2009) and then the Believe Network (2009 to 2012), Mr. Calderon-Melendez and the WCHS board failed to keep the School in a sound financial position and otherwise failed to observe Charter Law and authorizer directives. The NY State Office of Audit Services audit for 2009-10 found, among other things, that: WCHS had failed to monitor and segregate funds relating to federal grants, totaling $807,854 that will have to be returned. approximately $81,508 in overpayments to the Believe Network; approximately $237,594 in WCHS consultant payments that should have been paid by the Believe Network; approximately $109,000 in payments made by WCHS that should have been paid by the Believe Network, and the two other charter high schools it manages, Believe Northside Charter High School (Northside) , and Believe Southside Charter High School (Southside). Later in 2010, NYSED sent a letter to Mr. Calderon-Melendez reprimanding the Believe Network, WCHS, and its two other managed schools and questioning whether they had been appropriate stewards of student safety or upheld the terms of their charter agreements based on use of unauthorized space for student programming. An independent financial audit for school year 2009-2010, the first year the Believe Network assumed responsibility for WCHSs accounting operations, made several findings that indicated a failure in the School's internal controls over financial accounting and reporting including that: [m]ajor general ledger account balances were not regularly analyzed and reconciled to the supporting source documents, [i]ntercompany accounts with the School's management company, Believe High School Network, were not reconciled, and, because of accounting personnels lack of oversight over financial activities and grant management, Government cost-reimbursement grants were not monitored during the year. According to board minutes, in the middle of the 2010-2011 school year, WCHSs financial situation had deteriorated to the point that it had to lay off teachers and staff, bankruptcy was being contemplated, the landlord was pursuing eviction, it owed several vendors for furniture, equipment and services rendered, and a lien had been taken against their new facility. Despite these problems, Mr. Calderon-Melendez earned salary and consultant fees from Believe and its schools of over $378,000 in 2010, and $478,000 in 2009. Mr. CalderonMelendez also obtained over $40,000 in payroll advances during those years from the Network and WCHS. As found by NY State Office of Audit Services, this amount included $14,418 in advances from WCHS months after he resigned as its CEO and without proper board approval. Notwithstanding these repeated deficiencies, the WCHS board never refused a salary increase for Mr. Calderon-Melendez, never sought adjustment of the Network fee, and

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never even considered another applicant when deciding to re-install him as CEO of WCHS, effective January 3, 2011. Investigations into these issues and others cited in the Notice of Probation are on-going. The NY State Office of Audit Services and NY State Office of the Attorney General are continuing their analyses concerning WCHSs relationship with the Believe Network, corporate governance, and financial practices. Despite these ongoing investigations, Mr. Calderon-Melendez continues to have a relationship with the school and the board. The boards failure to sever this relationship is a serious violation of its obligations under the Charter and state law.

Material and Substantial Charter Violations WCHS continues to violate the terms of its Charter, including the School Monitoring Plan which is part of the Charter. In particular, CSO believes that WCHS is currently violating the terms of the Charter and School Monitoring Plan in the following ways. Ongoing Lack of Proper Board Oversight Section 2.12 of the Charter places final responsibility for the operation of the School with the Board. As noted above, past Boards have been unwilling or unable to carry out that responsibility. Recent events have convinced CSO that the current Board is similarly failing to carry out its responsibility. First, the Board recently voted to install Mr. Calderon-Melendez as CEO of WCHS without contemplating a job description or conducting a search to fill the position. The Board selected Mr. Calderon-Melendez despite the fact that the NY State Office of Audit Services and NY State Office of the Attorney General are conducting investigations into the Believe Networks relationship with WCHS during the period when Mr. CalderonMelendez was leading the network. The past and ongoing indiscretions of Mr. CalderonMelendez were not discussed or reviewed, nor was the fact that prior Board members believed that they were unable to fulfill their duties during Mr. Calderon-Melendezs prior term as CEO. The Board reached this decision despite explicit instructions from CSO to sever all ties to the Believe Network, which Mr. Calderon-Melendez headed immediately prior to his appointment as CEO at WCHS. The boards failure to sever this relationship is a serious violation of its obligations under the Charter and state law. Second, as discussed in greater detail below, the Board has failed to fully implement the terms of the Corrective Action Plan mandated by CSO after it placed WCHS on probation. Similar instances of the Board violating the Charter or otherwise failing to meet its oversight responsibilities are described below. The CSO acknowledges that the Board has increased its membership by adding a board trustee who is neither affiliated with the Network or either of the Believe Schools. However, the events described in this notice, combined with the historical pattern of inadequate Board oversight, lead CSO to conclude that the Board is not only currently in violation of its obligations under the Charter, but is likely to continue violating its obligations in the future. The Boards failure to properly oversee the school is a material and substantial violation of the Charter. Failure to Obtain Required Approvals from CSO

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As delineated in the Notice of Probation, WCHS enacted material changes to its charter without prior CSO approval when it entered into a contractual relationship with Believe Network, in violation of Section 2.13 of WCHSs Charter and Section B of the Monitoring Plan. Following the Notice of Probation, WCHS again enacted material changes to its charter without prior CSO approval, in violation of Section 9.6 of WCHSs Charter. The Board passed a resolution at the November 21, 2011 meeting which reorganized the school in a manner which departed from the approved school structure submitted with WCHSs charter renewal application in 2009. The schools approved organization has a single head of school reporting structure, with the principal as the head. The resolution passed creates a dual-leadership model with a principal and chief executive officer, thus forming separate reporting lines. As delineated in the New York State Education Departments Charter Schools Technical Advisory on Charter Revisions (September 2010): Revisions that fundamentally affect a school's mission, vision, educational philosophy, organizational structure, or educational program - material changes - must be approved by the schools authorizer and then submitted to the Board of Regents for consideration and final approval. The November 21 reorganization was a material change to the schools charter and had to be submitted to the CSO for approval before it could be enacted. It was not submitted at the time. To CSOs knowledge, it has never been submitted for approval. In addition, as discussed above, another resolution passed at the December 14, 2011 meeting named, Mr. Calderon-Melendez, CEO of WCHS. Again, no approval was sought from CSO. Without the approval of the CSO of the school structural change, the January 3, 2012 start date and all actions taken by the newly-appointed leadership are unauthorized and all payments made to the newly appointed leadership are improper. Conflicts of Interest and Financial Disclosures WCHS has also continued to violate the conditions of the Charter and the School Monitoring Plan by failing to file required financial disclosures for each board member. Each Trustee that has served on the board must annually file a Disclosure of Financial Interest report as part of WCHSs Annual Report with the NYSED as specified in Section 2.12(d) of the Charter. The Notice of Probation cited WCHSs past non-compliance with this requirement, specifically noting that the WCHS Board had submitted a Disclosure of Financial Interest report for only one Board member to SED for the 2009-10 academic year. Despite the Notice of Probation, WCHS has continued to violate this condition of the charter. Though Disclosure of Financial Interest reports were submitted for 2010-11 academic year, the submitted board roster was materially inaccurate and misleading. 2.12 Governance (d) In the event that any Trustee fails to file a Disclosure of Financial Interest by a Charter School Trustee Report within thirty (30) days of its due date of August 1, or such report is in material respects incomplete, misleading or untruthful, and the Chancellor informs the Board of its determination in this regard, the Charter School, notwithstanding any provision of its By-laws, shall in a timely fashion remove such Trustee pursuant to a vote of the Board and the failure of the Board to so act shall be a material violation of the Charter and be subject to further action in accordance with law.

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In its 2010 disclosures, Andrew Cobo did not reveal that he was compensated by the Believe Network, WCHS, and Northside in 2010; Antonio Serrano did not disclose he was an employee of Southside, nor that he received payment from both Northside and Southside; and Mr. Calderon-Melendez, though disclosing his position as CEO of the Believe Network, has never publicly disclosed that his salary and consultant payments from WCHS, nor the over $70,000 in consultant payments he received from Northside and Southside. WCHS should consider this notice from the Chancellor that it must timely remove these trustees. Moreover, the board roster submitted did not correspond to the disclosures made. Specifically, though Trustee Florence Adu stepped down during 2010-11 (which the Board did not notify the DOE within 5 business days per Section C.2 of the Monitoring Plan), her Disclosure of Financial Interest report was not submitted with the Annual Report as required. The submitted board roster did, however, include Ms. Adu but did not include Trustee Marcenia Johnson, who still serves on the WCHS board. The Charter specifically states: 2.12 Governance (d) Should a Trustee resign from or otherwise leave the Board without having submitted a Disclosure of Financial Interest by a Charter School Trustee Report for any year in which such Trustee served, the Charter School shall provide the Chancellor with a record of the transactions required by the Disclosure of Financial Interest by a Charter School Trustee Report for that Trustee for each relevant school year, such reports to be signed by the Charter School and due on August 1 as part of the Annual Report. In addition, Appendix A of the 2010-2011 Annual Report Progress Toward Charter Goals - was required to be filed with NYSED by November 1, 2011. WCHS submitted a document over 60 days late that was not complete or wholly accurate.

The Notice of Probation concluded that the Board of Trustees had issues concerning conflicts of interest. In the submitted 2010-11 Board roster, of the six Board members, at least three have interests (i.e. are employed) with either the Believe Network or with the other schools the Network manages. In addition, two other board members sit on the board of the Believe Network (and one of the two also serves as the Board Chair of the Southside). As of this date, the DOE has not received any resignation from any WCHS board trustee. The Board revised and approved Code of Ethics and Conflict of Interest Policies (as described in the November 21, 2011 board minutes), yet has not followed through on the schools Conflict of Interest Policy: Because of an actual, potential, or perceived structural conflict of interest, directors may not sit concurrently on the boards of either the Believe Northside High School or the Believe Southside Charter High School. The Southside Board Chair is still a board member of WCHS and has not resigned. At the same meeting, the Board signed and returned both documents, however the DOE has not received executed copies of these documents, per the Revised Plan (see below).

Enrollment WCHS is violating the conditions of Section 2.2 of the Charter in regards to the number of students to be served. The school must obtain prior written approval from the CSO prior

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to enrolling any student that could cause the schools total enrollment to exceed the projected enrollment of the school for the academic year. The projected enrollment, as stated and approved, is set at 944 total students. In September, when invoices are based on actual student enrollment numbers, the number of students enrolled far exceeded the approved amount. As of the December 1, 2011, WCHS invoiced the DOE for 1034 students. WCHS did not request and the CSO did not provide written approval of this material enrollment change. Fiscal Mismanagement Section 5.6 of the Charter requires WCHS to maintain accurate enrollment data and daily records of student attendance. These records are used, inter alia, to calculate the amount of funding WCHS will receive from the DOE. The school has failed to maintain accurate student enrollment records, as evidenced by discrepancies in the number and identity of WCHS students listed in the ATS student data system and invoices submitted by WCHS to the CSO for school funding purposes. This failure constitutes an additional serious violation of the Charter. This failure is ongoing. Over the course of the current academic year, there have been several instances of invoicing inaccuracies. For example, several students were listed twice on the invoice submitted on December 1, 2012. In addition, the 2010-11 financial reconciliation for WCHS has raised further questions on appropriate billing practices of the school. Upon cursory review of WCHSs reconciliation submission, enrollment and discharge information for at least five students does not correspond to the ATS student data system. WCHS also included other students that were enrolled in alternative educational programs; WCHS cannot claim funding for these students.

WCHS also did not abide by the conditions of Section C.3 of the Monitoring Plan concerning the provision of written notice to the CSO within five (5) business days of the execution of contracts or incurring of debt in excess of $50,000. For example, the CSO did not receive within five business days notification of two loans the school executed with Nonprofit Finance Fund on April 2, 2009: a term loan and security agreement for up to $2,000,000 and a line of credit for up to $500,000. In addition, the DOE has serious concerns regarding contractual misrepresentations that have occurred. In documents received during the Probationary period, it was discovered that in at least three instances, Believe Network CEO and WCHS Board trustee Mr. Calderon-Melendez misrepresented his authority on behalf of WCHS, signing as an employee of WCHS or as Chairperson of the Board: he is neither. In none of the submitted board minutes was there a vote that granted him the authority to sign large financial commitments on behalf of the school. CSO also did not receive written notice within five business days for the contracts referenced below. Despite Mr. Calderon-Melendezs lack of authority, in one instance, he signed on behalf of WCHS on the June 2011 Forbearance Agreement between WCHS and the 198-202 Varet Street Corporation, which acknowledges a debt of $2,133,889 in rent and security deposit and set a repayment plan. In another instance, Mr. Calderon-Melendez as President and CEO a contract between the school and the 198-202 Varet Street Corporation for the leasing of equipment. Monthly payments for equipment were set at $14,762.

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The third incident was in August 2011; WCHS had applied to The Fund for the City for New York for a cash flow loan of $300,000. In the submitted application paperwork, Mr. Calderon-Melendez was listed as Executive Director/President of WCHS. (The application also does not list under outstanding debts the $63,000 monthly payments in addition to the rent of $191,667.)

Violation of Other Laws and Regulations In addition to the issues discussed above, many of which are serious violations of state law, WCHS also is not in compliance with the amended Charter School Act and Education Law sections 2590-h(15)(a) and 414(1)(c). Those provisions require all NYC charters to establish Parent Associations and that parent association meetings are, among other things, open to the general public. To the DOEs knowledge, WCHS still fails to meet those requirements. The CSO has not received any information that would confirm the establishment of a Parents Association.

Non-compliance with the Remedial Action Plan Under the terms of the Remedial Action Plan requirements, WCHS has not met all of its obligations and has attempted to circumvent the intent of the Notice of Probation and Remedial Action Plan. Specifically, the Board passed a resolution at the December 14, 2011 meeting to hire Believe Network employees, Mr. Calderon-Melendez, Believe Network CEO, and Greg Ingrassia, Believe Network CFO, to become WCHS employees effective January 3, 2012. By placing these employees directly back into the school, the board is violating its obligations under the Charter, state law, and the Remedial Action Plan. In addition, in approving the Revised Plan on November 10, 2011, DOE clarified to the Board Chairperson that: The Board should pass a resolution announcing termination of the unapproved contractual relationship with the Believe Network as soon as possible, stating that the termination will take place no later than January 31, 2012. Board resolution should include a cap on the current fee and funds sent to the Believe Network until the termination and that any future payments must first be approved by the CSO. At the November 21, 2011 Board meeting, a resolution passed announcing termination of the Believe Network relationship by January 31, 2012. However, the language that caps Believe Network fees and CSO approval of any additional Believe Network fees was not included. CSO has not received any requests for payment to the Network, but has reason to believe that payments are being tendered. These payments therefore also constitute violations of the Revised Action Plan. WCHS has also failed to fully implement the Revised Action Plan. The state of WCHSs current compliance with the Revised Action Plan is as follows: Remedial Action Plan and Revised Action Plan Requirements 1. Termination of the unapproved contractual relationship with the Believe Network. CSO will allow WCHS six weeks to transition out of the relationship; by October 31, 2011, all services provided by the Believe Network will cease. After October 31, 2011, WCHS may not pay any management or consultancy fees relating to

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the administration and management of the school without receiving the advance written approval of CSO and making appropriate amendments to its charter if applicable. CSO and WCHS approved revision for the termination to occur January 31, 2012. Board resolution passed at the 11/21/11 board meeting announcing the termination of the relation. Additional conditions, such as the Board resolution should include a cap on the current fee and funds sent to the Believe Network until the termination and that any future payments must be approved by the CSO, was not included in the resolution. 2. Board conducts an analysis of its capacity for providing unbiased, arms-length oversight and develops a plan for improving that capacity, which should include a strategy for eliminating overlapping board appointments, eliminating apparent conflicts of interest, board expansion (with prior approval by CSO as mandated in the WCHSs Section 2.12(a) of the Charter) and/or programmatic board training. A cursory analysis was conducted and verbally reported back to the board. A detailed plan to improve board capacity was not approved or implemented by board. 3. Board revises its bylaws and adopts a new conflict of interest policy to reflect the GML. Per 11/21/11 board minutes, regarding the code of ethics and conflict of interest policies, the Board signed and returned both documents but CSO has yet to receive executed copies of the documents. 4. Board revises its meeting schedule to include 12 monthly meetings a year. The Board has set a calendar for 12 monthly meetings and has made it publically available via WCHSs website. 5. School provides an overall fiscal management plan and employs a CSO approved independent fiscal agent that reports to the CSO on a monthly basis. The management plan should include provisions for regular oversight and reporting to the board of trustees and a comprehensive strategy to ensure the fiscal soundness and stability of the School. This plan must include: i) A detailed month-to-month cash flow projection for the 2011-12 school year, which indicates positive cash flow and incorporates specific details about all cash transactions, including the use and payback of any loans as well as anticipated tuition reconciliation activity with the NYC DOE for repayment of funds billed in excess of actual enrollment. This cash flow projection should provide details about all long-term, short-term or other financing (including the names of vendors, amounts owed and terms of repayment) and extending accruals (including by changing payment terms with staff and/or consultants). Supporting documentationincluding, bank reconciliations, monthly financial statements, invoices, notices of overdue balances, documentation of financing charges, etc.must be provided to substantiate items contained within the projection. In addition a copy of all contractsincluding leases and

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consulting agreements held by the School must be provided, including the names of contractors, individual consultants, services provided, copies of signed contracts, evaluations of services rendered, copies of vendor invoices, and payments made by the School. ii) A detailed 2011-12 annual budget inclusive of an operating surplus and measures to eliminate the Schools working capital deficit. The budget must include detailed personnel information including headcounts, staff titles, and salaries for all staff members. The Schools board must fully consider costcutting measures, including the termination or renegotiation of contracts. iii) A balance sheet and income statement as of the close of each month between July 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011, submitted no later than 30 days after the close of each month. The first set of financial statements through July 31, 2011 must be submitted no later than 12:00 p.m. on Friday, September 30, 2011. iv) A discussion and analysis of the schools facilities plans and its revised leasing arrangement with its landlord. The Board has yet to hire an Independent Agent. 6. Board, directly or by subcommittee, conducts an in-depth review of its contracts and agreements with the Schools landlord, lenders and vendors to ensure compliance with its Charter Agreement and the amended Charter Schools Act. To the CSOs knowledge, there have been no in-depth reports or reviews of WCHSs individual contracts to ensure compliance with the Charter and the amended Charter Schools Act. 7. Board, directly or by subcommittee, ensures that the school reviews its operational and financial reporting structure to ensure clear accountability and effective oversight occurs. To the CSOs knowledge, there have been no in-depth reports or reviews of WCHSs operational and financial reporting structure to ensure clear accountability and effective oversight occurs.

8. School will continue to cooperate with the NY State Office of Audit Services and the NY State Office of the Attorney General and to comply with all recommendations that result from the investigations of as well with any other agency audits currently being conducted. To the CSOs knowledge, the Board has not stated it will comply with all recommendations that result from the investigations of as well with any other agency audits currently being conducted. 9. The Board will submit its Board of Trustees meeting agendas and all information packets for each meeting to the CSO each month. The Board has provided meeting agendas, though not all of the information packets have been complete or timely. , For example, as referenced above, per 11/21/11 board minutes regarding the code of ethics and conflict of interest policies, the Board signed

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and returned both documents but CSO has yet to receive executed copies of the documents.

To avoid charter revocation, the school must abide by the following: i) Immediately refrain from enacting school structure reorganizing and hiring of additional leadership personnel; ii) Submit the necessary charter amendment request for the school organizational change to the CSO; iii) Immediately refrain from enrolling any additional students; iv) Submit the request for change in enrollment numbers to the CSO; v) Conflicted board members must resign immediately from the WCHS board; vi) Submit all outstanding documents, such as the Board signed Code of Ethics and Conflict of Interest Policies; vii) Immediately break-off all school-based relations, including board membership, with anyone who is employed, or who has been employed by, or who served on the board of the Believe High School Network; viii) Come into compliance with all requirements of the Charter and applicable state law; and ix) Fully implement the any outstanding terms of the Revised Action Plan as described above. WCHS has thirty calendar days to remedy all violations as outlined above. After thirty calendar days have elapsed, WCHS may submit a written response explaining in detail why WCHS believes it is no longer in material and substantial violation of the Charter, is no longer in serious violation of applicable laws and regulations, and is in full compliance with the Notice of Probation, Remedial Action Plan, and Revised Action Plan. The response may include documentary evidence such as affidavits or exhibits and may present legal arguments. The response should be directed to: Chad B. Pimentel Attorney, Office of Legal Services NYC Department of Education 52 Chambers Street, Room 308 New York, New York 10007 At the time that it submits its written response, WCHS shall also have the opportunity to request an oral argument before a designee of the Chancellor at a time and place to be established by such designee. Such designee shall review WCHSs written response, including any documents submitted, consider the oral arguments of WCHS and the DOE (if any) and recommend to the Chancellor whether to terminate the Charter or such other action as such designee deems appropriate. As WCHSs chartering entity, the Chancellor may accept or reject or modify the recommendation of such designee, and has final authority over whether to terminate the Charter. It is expected that the Chancellor will make a decision on whether to revoke WCHSs charter by March 1, 2012. If the board fails to submit evidence that is has implemented appropriate solutions by Wednesday, February 8, 2012, the DOE will immediately revoke the schools charter and directly contact parents to notify them of the schools closure so that other educational arrangements can be made. The DOE expects that WCHS will remain in operation until June 27, 2012.

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In the event that the Chancellor does terminate the Charter, WCHS must immediately begin the dissolution process described in section 8.4 of the Charter. The board must develop and submit the schools dissolution plan by February 8, 2012. Furthermore, in the event of school closure, the school must execute its dissolution plan. Finally, in the event of termination, the Chancellor shall provide notice of such termination to the Board of Regents to facilitate revocation of WCHSs certificate of incorporate pursuant to the Education Law.

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