April 2025 ACCS - Item 03 Public Comment 1
Public Comment 1 received for Agenda Item 03 of the April 8, 2025, Advisory Commission on Charter Schools meeting.The following information was provided on California School Employees Association letterhead. Except when needed for accessibility purposes, no corrections to spelling, grammatical, or typographical errors have been made.
To receive a copy of the below communication in its original format, contact the Charter Schools Division by email at charters@cde.ca.gov.
April 3, 2025
RE: Item 3—Academia Avance Charter School Notice of Intent to Revoke
Dear Members of the Advisory Commission on Charter Schools:
The California School Employees Association (CSEA), AFL-CIO, respectfully urges the Advisory Commission on Charter Schools (ACCS) to recommend that the State Board of Education (SBE) revoke Academia Avance’s charter authorization.
Since May 2024, the California Department of Education (CDE) has warned Academia Avance of serious concerns regarding the operation of the school, issuing two separate letters and regularly meeting with school leadership to discuss Academia Avance’s budget, enrollment projections, declining revenue, debts, and lack of internal controls. Despite repeated warnings, Academia Avance has failed to course correct, violating both state law and its Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the SBE.
Academia Avance’s MOU with the SBE requires it to maintain a financial reserve of at least five percent for economic uncertainty. Today, Academia Avance has no reserve and its submitted corrective action plan does not forecast that changing until 2027-28. Furthermore, the 2027-28 projected budget that achieves the required reserve is based on unrealistic enrollment and economic assumptions which do not account for any inflation in expenses related to Medicare, school supplies, office expenses, transportation, insurance, and special education. Academia Avance’s past due invoices total over $1 million, with over $800,000 of invoices more than 120 days past due.
Given the school’s extreme degree of financial mismanagement, it’s unsurprising that Academia Avance has violated Education Code §41020 by failing to submit an independent financial audit for the 2023-24 academic year.
California law allows charter schools to operate independently in exchange for greater accountability and continuous oversight. Academia Avance has abused its independence by making a series of disastrous financial and governance decisions that adversely impact its student body and its staff—not to mention its vendors who are owed over $1 million. Academia Avance was provided with ample opportunity to correct these issues but failed to do so.
For these reasons, we respectfully urge the ACCS to recommend that the SBE revoke Academia Avance’s charter. If you have any questions regarding CSEA’s position, please do not hesitate to contact me at cmancini@csea.com or (916) 329-3622. Thank you.
Sincerely,
CALIFORNIA SCHOOL EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION
Cassie Mancini
Legislative Advocate
CM:tt
cc: Chris Masami Myers, Director, Governmental Relations
Return to the April ACCS Meeting Agenda