The West Contra Costa Unified School District board approved a petition by the Leadership Public School Richmond charter high school to continue operating for another five years despite concerns expressed by two board member, one of which cast a dissenting vote.
District staff reported that the school had demonstrated “significant improvement in academic improvement across all subgroups.”
School board members said they were concerned about the school’s low population of Black students (3%) among its 500 students, of which 95% are Latino, as well as the smaller number of students requiring special education or classified as English learners, compared to nearby district high schools.
Trustee Demetrio Gonzalez-Hoy, who voted to approve the petition, said he would only do so if it was accompanied by a memorandum of understanding in which the charter school agrees to report regularly on its progress toward becoming more representative of the district as a whole.
Board member Jamela Smith-Folds voted against renewing the charter for similar reasons and also because a staff report stated that there is limited involvement of families in decision making at LPS Richmond.
Another renewal petition is pending for Richmond Charter School, which also faced tough questions at its initial school board hearing, with district officials questioning whether the school is fiscally solvent.
The board is expected to rule on that petition at its April 30 regular meeting.
Richmond Charter and LPS Richmond were granted five-year renewals in 2017. Under normal circumstances, the schools would have had to renew in 2022. But due to new laws, both qualified for three-year extensions. Their performance over the last eight years classifies them as “middle tier” charters, which allows them to apply for another five-year renewal. Like all charter schools in California, the renewal timeline was extended by several years because of the pandemic.
RCA has been around a while now and has it ever had many black students or those with disabilities? Foster kids? Homeless? Parents w/o cars?