The surrender clause requires Erie Rise to forfeit its charter automatically, and "without protest" or recourse to the courts, if the school fails to meet the benchmarks in the improvement plan. The benchmarks are based on Erie Rise's scores on the 2021-22 Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests.
The Erie school directors made few comments about the vote. Board President Daria Devlin said the school directors had to make "an incredibly painful decision" and that the school district would help Erie Rise families find new schools.
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School Director Gwendolyn Cooley said the School Board and the district had given Erie Rise enough opportunities to address the district's concerns. The school district estimates it will spend about $3.4 million in taxpayer funds this academic year to pay students' tuition at Erie Rise, which is a public charter.
David Krakoff, Erie Rise's director of education, said the School Board would violate the civil rights of Erie Rise students if the board voted to close the school. A total of 39% of Erie Rise's students are Black, according to school district data, and 100% of the students live in "economically disadvantaged" households, according to state data.
Erie schools Superintendent Brian Polito asked the School Board to invoke the surrender clause and vote on closing Erie Rise. The administration said Erie Rise's test scores failed to improve during the pandemic even as the scores at the Erie School District schools got better.
Polito told the crowd that the Erie School District will help Erie Rise families find other schools for their children, including the three other brick-and-mortar charter schools that enroll students who live within the boundaries of the Erie School District.
Also at a hearing on Erie Rise in 2019, the school's solicitor, Thomas Fitzpatrick, a lawyer from Philadelphia, addressed the School Board and focused, in part, on the state data that shows 100% of Erie Rise's students are economically disadvantaged.
Fitzpatrick also questioned whether the Erie School District was placing unfair expectations on Erie Rise, which in its charter application said its students would score no lower than 89% on standardized test scores in math and reading. Erie Rise has fallen well short of those numbers since the school opened in 2011, according to state data.
The School Board set the same conditions when it renewed Erie Rise's charter in 2019. On Wednesday night, the board and the Erie School District administration said the violation of those conditions left the board with no choice but to vote to shut down the school.
This is an inquiry lesson where students will do research to answer the inquiry question concerning the end of the Civil War and the Confederate surrender. Students will develop a hypothesis, search for evidence in multiple primary and secondary sources, and complete a graphic organizer. Through this process, students will develop a strong answer to the inquiry question posed at the beginning.
On October 29, 2013, the board of trustees of Spirit of Knowledge Charter School (SOKCS) voted to surrender its charter, effective October 31, 2013. If the school had not surrendered its charter, I would now be recommending revocation. I recommend that the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (Board) vote to accept the surrender of the public school charter granted to SOKCS in lieu of revocation.
Last month, the Board received and discussed an updated report on SOKCS's probation and related conditions. My memorandum from last month, which outlined the school's progress toward meeting the nine conditions imposed in connection with placing the school on probation, is attached as a reference. At that time I signaled a deep concern about the school's viability and noted its potential insolvency. This memorandum provides a history of SOKCS, summarizes findings from past site visits, and provides an update on the school's closure.
In February 2010, the Board granted a charter to SOKCS to serve 275 students in grades 7-12. The school opened in September 2010. The school struggled early in its charter term. Based upon site visit reports conducted in years two and three and other data analysis, the Department noted the concerns that follow.
In May 2013, the Board placed SOKCS on probation in order to allow for an implementation of a remedial plan. In my memo recommending probation I stated that based on the success, or lack thereof, of SOKCS in meeting the conditions imposed in connection with its probation and in alleviating the cause of its probation, I would recommend further action as appropriate. In September 2013, significant under enrollment, looming insolvency, and a decline in academic results amplified my concerns about the school's viability and provided evidence that the school had not addressed the root causes of its probation.
The budget for FY14 included in the school's annual report was based upon an enrollment of 185 students. In September, at the Department's request, the school provided updated cash flow projections that included a number of assumptions: a continued line of credit, student enrollment of 158, a reduction in rent, and reductions in salaries. As of late October, none of the assumptions has held true. The board of trustees of SOKCS voted on October 29 to close the school because it could not meet all of its financial obligations.
SOKCS and the Department have been working closely with Worcester Public Schools to enable students to transition to new schools. This is a difficult time for students and families. Worcester Public Schools has been extremely helpful in this transition and welcoming to students and families. We will continue to work with Worcester Public Schools and SOKCS to ensure that students transition to other schools and to ensure an orderly closure of business for SOKCS.
The Monday night vote just a half hour before midnight was the culmination of six weeks of building political pressure that began when Republicans in the Tennessee House improved their majority in the Nov. 2 elections. The next day, MCS board member Martavius Jones told Memphis Mayor A C Wharton Jr. he would propose a MCS charter surrender. He and others believed the 64 vote GOP majority in the house made it more likely the legislature would pass special school district legislation the Shelby County school system had been seeking for a decade.
Parliament has given new powers and clarified the law in relation to searches and retaining student property. In exercising these powers, schools must act reasonably, in good faith and in the least intrusive manner to achieve a safe environment.
The district recently announced it is hiring an elementary school principal. But the job description, posted in November, does not specifically mention Harney. The position will last until June 30, 2019.
Marta Jewson covers education in New Orleans for The Lens. She began her reporting career covering charter schools for The Lens and helped found the hyperlocal news site Mid-City Messenger. Jewson returned...More by Marta Jewson
John F. Kennedy High School at Lake Area on Paris Avenue in Gentilly. NOLA Public Schools wants to change the name of the Lake Area building to John F. Kennedy, the name of the school it's housed in. (John McCusker, The Times-Picayune)
After allegations of grade-fixing and a major fiasco involving class credits that left dozens of students unable to graduate, the public charter board overseeing John F. Kennedy High School voted Thursday night to surrender its charters to operate both of its schools.
Raphael Gang, the president of the New Beginnings board, said Thursday night that both the C-rated Kennedy High and D-rated Pierre A. Capdau Elementary School would be turned over to the Orleans Parish School Board. District Superintendent Henderson Lewis Jr. said he plans to find a new charter operator to take over the schools.
Gang, whose voice wavered as he spoke to members of the school community, said that an internal investigation had turned up "incredibly disturbing" information but that he was prohibited from sharing the results at this time.
King, who was fired a month later in what he said was retaliation for reporting the alleged grade-fixing, submitted documents showing that F's were changed to D's and D's to C's, a move that ultimately could have helped the school bolster its graduation rates and, in turn, improve its performance score issued by the state.
One student, Darnette Daniels, filed a lawsuit against school, district and state officials, saying that the scandal had caused her extreme anxiety and depression because she didn't qualify for a job she expected to start following graduation.
In his first address to the board since being hired, George said the number might be updated after summer school finished on Friday, but he admitted that New Beginnings officials would have to work on comprehensive plans for each student left dealing with the fallout from six months of controversy.
George also said the costly investigation had forced officials to reduce the number of teachers, special education staff and administrators at both New Beginnings schools. For this fiscal year, 27 positions were eliminated.
The revelations at Kennedy have already prompted Lewis to ask the state Inspector General's Office for a criminal probe into the allegations. The district has also made policy changes that will require auditing every public high school in New Orleans.
The probes revealed that issues at the school far exceeded the initial grade-fixing allegations, and extended to nearly every facet of accreditation, affecting students taking regular, special education, gifted and online courses.
That was a follow-up to a letter sent in June that said New Beginnings was "non-compliant with its contractual obligations" because of the grade-fixing allegations and credit-related problems at the Gentilly high school. 006ab0faaa