001[Music] Good evening. >> I'd like to call to order this public hearing for Armani Public Charter School proposed new charter term. Today's Tuesday, September 30th, 2025. Please stand for the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. This public hearing refers to an application submitted to the New York State Department of Education for Amani public charter school term renewal. The proposed new charter term request is from July 1st, 2026 through June 30th, 2031. The proposed renewal term, grade levels, and projected enrollment requested by the school are year 1, 2026, 2027, grade configuration, K through grade 2, and 5 and 8. Total proposed enrollment 494. Year 2 2027 through 2028,
002grade K through grade three and five and 8. Total enrollment 534. Year 3, 2028 through 2029. Kindergarten through grade 8, 554 enrollment. Year 4, 2029 through 2030. Kindergarten through grade 8, 554 enrollment. and year 5 2030 through 2031 kindergarten through grade 8 554 enrollment. Please come to the podium when your name is called. You will have up to three minutes to speak, one additional minute if needed. The first person is Harvey Zuckermanman. Thank you. Oh, that's live. Uh, dear members of the Okay, good. Okay. Dear members of the Mount Vernon Board of Education, thank you for the opportunity to speak with you this evening. Again, my name is Harvey Zuckerman and I serve as a school counselor at Ammani Public Charter School. As an employee of Ammani for the past 13 years, I am here
003to express my strong support for Amani's proposal to expand its grade span to include kindergarten through grade 4 in addition to its current grades 5 through 8 program. This expansion represents a meaningful opportunity to strengthen early learning in our community and to build on Ammani's proven record of academic growth, support, and success. Beginning a child's education at Ammani in kindergarten would allow the school to build strong consistent foundations in literacy, numeracy, and social emotional development. Research from the Frank Portortogram Institute show that early childhood education leads to sustained academic gains in literacy and language through the elementary years. By starting earlier, Ammani can ensure that students enter upper elementary grades fully prepared to thrive. Ammani serves a student population in which many families qualify for free and reduced lunch. Studies such as Project STAR and
004various universal preK evaluations demonstrate that early schooling and smaller class sizes in grades K to3 lead to higher academic achievement and long-term benefits particularly for low-income and minority students. Ammani already offers a highly supportive structur environment, double periods in English and math, robust enrichment, English language learner and special education services, and a warm inclusive nature. Extending these supports to the early grades will allow scholars to develop strong academic habits, positive behavior, and a confident sense of identity from their earliest years. This expansion would increase authorized enrollment from approximately 355 to over 550 students, giving more Mount Vernon families access to Amani's successful model. This growth helps meet demonstrated community demand while enhancing long-term resource efficiency. Studies show that on average, students in charter schools often make faster academic gains, especially in reading, compared to similar
005students in traditional public schools. Some analyses show that charter schools can be more cost-effective in producing academic achievement per dollar spent. And the flexibility charters often have in structuring the school day teacher professional development curriculum approaches tends to enable more innovation or ability to adapt to student needs. Putting this together, Ammani public charter school will be more beneficial in particular when a student needs stronger support in reading and math. A student thrives under structured supportive school culture with a smaller setting. Family values, enrichment, arts, languages after school as part of school experience and wants those integrated into school rather than optional extras. And also a family wants individualized attention, more teacher contact, and more frequent accountability and feedback. I respectfully urge the board to consider this expansion as a vital step toward closing early learning
006gaps and ensuring equitable opportunities for all our children. Thank you. >> Thank you, >> Jeffrey Lac. Hello, my name is Jeffrey Lozac. I'm a licensed special education teacher with 37 years of teaching experience. This is my second year teaching at Ammani public charter school. My role includes assisting the special education coordinator during the IEP process, providing resource room services in the with the subject areas in the subject areas of ELA, math for the entire school, co-eing and modifying instruction for our preschool, kindergarten, and first grade students. What I admire most about the school is the family atmosphere between parents, teachers and the students. Cooperative learning is ongoing and the teachers students enjoy coming to school daily. The staff different differentiates instruction to meet the needs of all our students. It does not matter if the
007student is gifted or has an IEP. Staff believe that every child can reach their learning potential. Under the leadership of Charles and Deborah Stern, the school has been servicing the Mount Vernon community since 2011. I can only say positive things about the about the time and energy they both placed into starting off our lower elementary school. I work directly with them during this process. What is special about the middle school is that it provides academic skills necessary for each student to succeed in competitive high school programs when they graduate and then continue on to high school and prepare for their career choice in the in the future. I recommended the that that state and the school district continue um allowing uh Monty Charter School to grow because it it's it benefits the community and I
008would I can't say throughout my career this is one of the best schools I've worked in during my career. Thank you. >> Thank you Charles Stern. Thank you. Good evening everybody. My name is Charlie Stern and I along with my wife Deborah, I'm the co-founder of the Ammani Public Charter School. Uh let me say first of all, if there's any parents watching and you'd like an option for your children, you can go to ammani charter.org org right now. Fill out an application and if there's space available, they can start this year or you can apply for next year.org/apply. I'm here can't read as well as I used to. I'm here tonight to urge the board of regents to authorize a full five-year renewal term for the Ammani public charter school. Essentially, there is a system
009of trust in place between the community in Mount Vernon and the school. Parents and and other stakeholders know what Ammani stands for. Teaching and learning, preparing children to succeed in high school and in college and ultimately in the career of their choice. Um, but I must tell you, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that part of the reason why Ammani is so attractive to parents in Mount Vernon and New Rashelle and Yonkers in the Bronx uh, is because the regular public schools have profound weaknesses and in many case failures. That's why charter schools have been authorized in Mount Vernon and these other places. If you're a parent, you need a place for your kids to go to school and you don't have time for 50 years and a revolution. You don't have time
010for that. Not everybody can write a check and move like my wife and I did to get away from Mount Vernon public schools. Um public charter schools are an option. Um, I will also use some of my remaining time to share my individual opinion that the school boards are a total waste of time and energy and should probably all be disbanded. All 700 of them across the entire state of New York, including the 40 in Westchester and the 56 in Nassau County. They are vestigial organizations. They were designed to lock in a system of racism and income inequality. And to this day, that's really the only thing they're particularly efficient at doing. And that is why in 1998, Governor George Pataki approved a charter school law to provide an opportunity for innovative educational uh options
011and competition for the regular public schools. Ammani public charter school is free, public, and open to anybody who wants to go. I want to tell you a few things about Ammani. Ammani has an academic program that is run by educators and staff by certified teachers. Some of these folks are sitting right here. They are very talented people. Every student in the upper school receives a Chromebook. There's a library with over 10,000 books. There's a video podcast studio in there. I know because I built it myself. There's an art arts program called Sing for Hope. Every single student attends music's classes. And for those who are interested, there's a theater program after school. It is grant-f funded. It is free of charge. We all have the same things you would expect to find in any of
012the neighboring wealthy communities. Plus, one more thing. We have leadership and we have a board that is there for the right reasons. The purpose is to offer young people an opportunity to learn in a safe and organized environment. I think that's what Ammani does and to offer parents a choice. So, state education department, if you're listening, we need to raise the cap on charter schools. We need to keep extending the ones that are working, all 351 of them across New York State, including the Ammani Public Charter School. Thank you. And madame clerk, I'm going to leave you a copy of my remarks so that you can enter them into the record. Thank you. [Applause] >> Our next speaker is Deborah Stern. >> Hi. Thank you. All right, let's see. Does that work? Good evening. Welcome,
013uh, Dr. Strickland. first time we got a chance to meet. I did know about getting together. So hopefully we can do that and this is my time and I also want to invite you to our fundraiser to be a guest of myself and my husband at our table. So hopefully we'll be able to uh see you there. Oh, I have hopefully we'll see you at our party. Anyway, good evening. My name is Dr. Deborah Stern and I am the executive director and founder of Ammani Public Charter School. 15 years ago, we opened our doors with a simple but powerful vision to create an educational community where every student has the chance to achieve. Today, I stand before you as someone who has witnessed the transformative power of that vision realized in the lives of thousands
014of Mount Vernon families. We understood from the beginning that we couldn't boil the ocean. We couldn't fix every challenge in education overnight. But what we could do was create a system, a new system, one relationship at a time, one child at a time, one family at a time. And that's exactly what we've done. This year marks a milestone in our journey. We were awarded approval to expand our mission. Just and just weeks ago, we welcomed our very first class of kindergarten and first graders. Watching those littles walk through our doors for the first time reminded me why we began this work. Because every child deserves an educational environment where they're known, valued, and challenged to reach their full potential. Access is equity and excellence is a civil right. Over these 15 years, Ammani has graduated
015hundreds of students who have gone on to competitive high schools and college programs and the career of their choice. But our success isn't just measured in test scores or graduation rates. It's measured in the trust we've built with our community. Our perspective that excellence is a civil right means that whether a student is in kindergarten learning the letters or in eighth grade studying ELA, they are part of a community that believes in their potential. The families who choose Ammani don't just want an alternative to traditional public schools. They want a public school where their children will be challenged academically, nurtured emotionally, and prepared for whatever path they choose. They want a place where their circumstances don't define them, but rather the light growing within them does. We can't boil the ocean. But we've created a
016new system that works. We've proven that when you combine high expectations with genuine care, when you create a culture of learning and mutual respect, and you stay stay true to your mission, remarkable things happen. As we look forward to the next five years serving students from kindergarten through 8th grade, we're not just asking for charter renewal. We're asking for the opportunity to continue building the educational community that Mount Vernon deserves, a community where all children will always have a chance to achieve. Thank you for your time and I urge the state education department to support Ammani's charter renewal for a full five years respectively submitted Dr. Deborah Stern, executive director and founder. I'll leave you a copy of my remarks. I'm leaving an invitation for the party and I'm going to leave you a seat
017at my table. So, [Applause] Oh, and now I'm going to dance off. >> Thank you. At at this time, I'm going to open the floor for anyone else who did not sign up and would like to um make a comment. You can come up and just state your name for me, please. Good afternoon. My name is Max Smith. I'm the board chair of the trustees for Ammani Public Charter School. Good evening. I'm proud to speak on behalf of Ammani. Uh, so now we are beginning our 15th year and Ammani has and continues to be a vital part of the Mount Vernon community, serving over 1,000 scholars since his founding. Our mission remains clear to close the opportunity gap and ensure every child, regardless of background, has access to a high quality education. The results speak
018for themselves. Over our current charter term, Ammani has demonstrated substantial progress across all areas of the charter school performance framework. We have achieved concrete improvements in organizational capacity, financial stewardship, and student support systems while remaining faithful to our founding mission. We are in a vastly different position than the last time we were positioning petitioning for renewal. We are in the first year of our approved expansion to a full-size K to8 elementary school having welcomed our first kindergarten and first grade cohort at at the start of this academic year. We have concrete plans to expand our facilities which will properly serve our increased size and our students needs. We have a growing and evolving board of trustees who are passionate and capable stewards of Ammani as well as an enhanced leadership team, stronger and even more
019capable than ever. It should be noted that the proposed revision to our charter will not negatively affect other public or non-public schools in Mount Vernon. Our growth has been measured and intentional, designed to meet demonstrated family demand rather than to compete with neighboring schools. Programmatically, our expansion enhances educational opportunities in the city by providing families with more high-quality choices while complimenting, not undermining, the work of the district and other schools. Fiscally, Ammani has a proven record of sound stewardship and efficient use of public funds. We operate within our means, have clean audits, and maintain stability that ensures taxpayer dollars are used responsibly and effectively in service of students. We attest that Ammani has met the New York State Board of Regents benchmarks, including academic excellence and student growth, organizational soundness and financial stewardship, faithfulness to
020the charter and legal compliance, approved expansion and future implementation, and commitment to continued excellence. Our school is growing, our students are thriving, and our resources are stable. We are more resolute than ever that we will provide the educational excellence that the students of Mount Vernon deserve. Ammani is a proven institution that lifts up students, empowers families, and strengthens this city. On behalf of our board, staff, families, and most importantly, our scholars, I respectfully urge you to support a five-year renewal of our charter. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. Do we have anyone else who'd like to come up? Warren Mitchell. >> Good evening. My name is Warren Mitchell. I'm the vice president of the Mount Vernon City School District Board of Education. And I'm going to read a statement. The Mount Vernon City School
021District respectfully opposes the renewal of Ammani public charter schools charter for the proposed term of July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2031. This opposition opposition is based on documented under underperformance significant financial impact on our district and a lack of demonstrated educational need that would justify continued diversion of public resources from our comprehensive public school system. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Just as a reminder, we have 14 days from today. If anyone would like to submit any letters that I can forward to the state, you have until 14 days from today to get that to me at rjames at mtveroncsd.org. If there's nothing else, this meeting is adjourned. Thank you.