Final Meeting Notes for April 10, 2018

Advisory Commission on Charter Schools

An Advisory Body to the State Board of Education

Final Meeting Notes

Tuesday, April 10, 2018
California Department of Education
1430 N Street, Suite 1101
Sacramento, CA 95814-5901

Commission Members

• Jared Austin
• Brian Bauer (Absent)
• Lisa Constancio1
• Ari Engelberg
• Jumoke Hinton Hodge
• Gayle Garbolino-Mojica
• Dr. Mark Ryan
• Dr. Wesley Sever
• Curtis L. Washington (Absent)

1Represents the State Superintendent of Public Instruction.

State Board of Education Liaison Members

• Bruce Holaday
• Trish B. Williams

Principal Staff

• Judie Hall, Education Administrator I, California Department of Education (CDE)
• Carolyn Pfister, Education Administrator I, State Board of Education (SBE)
• Bill Fong, Education Programs Consultant (EPC), CDE
• Marites Rivera, EPC, CDE

Agenda

Call to Order

• Chair Ryan called the meeting to order at approximately 9:30 a.m.

Salute to the Flag

Welcome and Introductions

Review and Adoption of Meeting Notes

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Action: Commissioner Garbolino-Mojica moved approval of minutes.

Commissioner Austin seconded the motion.

Yes votes: Commissioners Austin, Constancio, Engelberg, Hinton Hodge, Garbolino-Mojica, Ryan, and Sever
No votes: None
Members absent: Commissioners Bauer and Washington
Abstentions: None

The motion passed unanimously.

Agenda Items

Item 01

Subject: Consideration of Requests for Determinations of Funding as Required for Nonclassroom-based Charter Schools Pursuant to California Education Code sections 47612.5 and 47634.2, and Associated California Code of Regulations, Title 5.

CDE Recommendation: The CDE proposes to recommend that the SBE approve the determination of funding at the percentages and time periods specified for each of the 42 nonclassroom-based charter schools.

Action: Commissioner Garbolino-Mojica moved for recommendation to the SBE of the CDE staff recommendation.

Commissioner Austin seconded the motion.

Yes votes: Commissioners Austin, Constancio, Engelberg, Hinton Hodge, Garbolino-Mojica, Ryan, and Sever
No votes: None
Members absent: Commissioners Bauer and Washington
Abstentions: None

The motion passed unanimously.

Item 02

Subject: Consideration of Request for Determination of Funding with “Reasonable Basis”/Mitigating Circumstances as Required for a Nonclassroom-based Charter School Pursuant to California Education Code sections 47612.5 and 47634.2, and Associated California Code of Regulations, Title 5.

CDE Recommendation: The CDE proposes to recommend that the SBE approve the determination of funding requests with mitigating circumstances at the percentages and time periods specified for each of the nine nonclassroom-based charter schools.

Action: Commissioner Garbolino-Mojica moved for recommendation to the SBE of the CDE staff recommendation.

Commissioner Sever seconded the motion.

Yes votes: Commissioners Constancio, Engelberg, Hinton Hodge, Garbolino-Mojica, Ryan, and Sever
No votes: None
Members absent: Commissioners Bauer and Washington
Abstentions: Commissioner Austin

The motion passed by six votes and one abstention.

Item 03

Subject: Petition for the Establishment of a Charter School Under the Oversight of the State Board of Education (SBE): Consideration of International Studies Language Academy, which was denied by the Los Angeles Unified School District and the Los Angeles County Board of Education.

CDE Recommendation: The (CDE) proposes to recommend that the SBE hold a public hearing to deny the request to establish International Studies Language Academy (ISLA), a transitional kindergarten (TK)/kindergarten (K) through grade eight charter school, under the oversight of the SBE, based on the CDE’s findings pursuant to Education Code (EC) sections 47605(b)(2), 47605(b)(4), and 47605(b)(5), and California Code of Regulations, Title 5 (5 CCR) Section 11967.5.1.

The CDE finds that the ISLA petitioner presents an unsound educational program and is demonstrably unlikely to implement the program set forth in the petition due to an unrealistic financial and operational plan including aggressive enrollment assumptions, ability to recruit qualified teachers for the two-way dual immersion program in four different languages, and the ability to secure a facility.

Additionally, the CDE finds that the ISLA petition does not contain a reasonably comprehensive description of all required elements including: a signed affirmation document, employee qualifications, admission requirements, suspension and expulsion procedures, and dispute resolution procedures.

Action: Commissioner Hinton Hodge moved to recommend approval of the petition to the SBE.

Commissioner Austin seconded the motion.

Yes votes: Commissioners Austin, Engelberg, Hinton Hodge, and Ryan
No votes: Commissioners Constancio, Garbolino-Mojica, and Sever
Members absent: Commissioners Bauer and Washington
Abstentions: None

The motion did not pass by a vote of four to three. Five votes are required to move an Advisory Commission on Charter Schools (ACCS) recommendation forward to the SBE; therefore, no formal recommendation was moved.

Item 04

Subject: Renewal Petition for the Establishment of a Charter School Under the Oversight of the SBE: Consideration of the Spark Charter School, which was denied by the Santa Clara County Board of Education.

CDE Recommendation: The (CDE) proposes to recommend that the SBE hold a public hearing to deny the request to renew Spark Charter School (SCS), a kindergarten through grade eight charter school, under the oversight of the SBE, based on the CDE’s findings pursuant to EC sections 47605(b)(1), 47605(b)(2), 47605(b)(5), and 5 CCR Section 11967.5.1.

The CDE finds that the SCS petitioner presents an unsound educational program and is demonstrably unlikely to implement the program set forth in the petition due to an unrealistic financial and operational plan. 

Additionally, the CDE finds that the SCS petition does not provide a reasonably comprehensive description of the racial and ethnic balance, admissions requirements and method for measuring pupil progress.

Action: Commissioner Engelberg moved to approve recommend approval of the petition to the SBE.

Commissioner Hinton Hodge seconded the motion.

Yes votes: Commissioners Austin, Engelberg, Hinton Hodge, Ryan, and Sever
No votes: Commissioners Constancio and Garbolino-Mojica
Members absent: Commissioners Bauer and Washington
Abstentions: None

The motion passed by a vote of five to two.

Adjournment of Meeting

Chair Ryan adjourned the meeting at approximately 12:45 p.m.

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