FOCUS D.C. Public Charter School Bulletin

June 21, 2005

--Eight 2006-2007 Charter Applicants Make DCPCSB’s First Cut; Eleven Rejected
--Board to Close SouthEast Academy PCS
--Seven Charter Schools Apply for Co-Location at Five DCPS Schools; Co-Location Committee Reviews Letters of Interest

Eight 2006-2007 Charter Applicants Make DCPCSB’s First Cut; Eleven Rejected

The D.C. Public Charter School Board last night voted to permit eight applicant groups to move forward on the long and difficult road to opening a public charter school in the fall of 2006; 11 applications were rejected outright. Four of the successful applicants gained “conditional approval,” which in the past has been a near-guarantee of final approval. The remaining four were given “first-stage clearance,” requiring them to significantly revise their applications for resubmission in September. Of the eight successful applicant groups, six participated fully in FOCUS’s comprehensive charter school startup program and an additional group took advantage of certain elements of the program.

The eight potential schools:

--Friendship Tech (9th-12th; college prep for technical careers)
--Academic International (prek-8th; international/holistic education using the James Comer model)
--Septima Clark (preschool-8th; challenging academic education for boys)
--D.C. Latin (prekindergarten-8th; classical education)
--Washington Latin (5th-12th; classical education)
--City Collegiate (6th-12th; rigorous standards-based education for adolescents)
--Dorothy Height Community (prekindergarten-8th; rigorous academics east of the river)
--Education Strengthens Families (preschool and adults: family literacy model)

Board to Close SouthEast Academy PCS

At its meeting yesterday the DCPCSB also voted to revoke the charter of SouthEast Academy PCS, which serves 677 K-8 students in Ward 8. SouthEast has been in operation since 1999.

The Board had voted at its March meeting to begin the process of revoking SouthEast’s charter because of the failure of the school to meet the academic goals it had set for its students. A public hearing on the revocation was held on April 5, after which the Board decided to give SouthEast a chance to avoid revocation by making significant changes to its board of trustees and school leadership. By making such changes SouthEast would win the right to stay open for another year while it sought to improve the academic performance of its students, its governance, and its “compliance with applicable regulations.”

But yesterday the Board decided that SouthEast’s efforts since April have been insufficient and that closure would be in the best interests of its students.

Under the School Reform Act, D.C.’s charter school law, a charter school may be closed down at any time for financial mismanagement or failure to obey applicable laws, and after five years for failure to achieve its academic goals. Since the first charter school opened in the District in 1996, eight charter schools have been closed by their chartering boards and one closed voluntarily.

Seven Charter Schools Apply for Co-Location at Five DCPS Schools; Co-Location Committee Reviews Letters of Interest

Seven charter schools have submitted letters of interest to co-locate in five DCPS schools: Bunker Hill ES (Latin American Montessori PCS; Mary McLeod Bethune PCS); Fletcher-Johnson Education Center (Mary McLeod Bethune PCS); Ron Brown MS (Washington Math Science and Technology PCS; Cesar Chavez PCS); Tyler ES (KIPP D.C. Key Academy PCS; Cesar Chavez PCS; Options PCS; Academy for Learning Through the Arts PCS); and Old Miner School (Options PCS). Non-charter entities also submitted letters of interest for several of these buildings; under the law, however, charter schools must be given a “right of first offer” on excess DCPS school space.

No charter schools offered to lease space in five other DCPS buildings — Draper ES, Emery ES, Ferebee-Hope ES, Hart MS, and PR Harris EC.

A Committee comprising DCPS facilities and realty office personnel, representatives of the two chartering boards, charter school advocates, and administrators, teachers, and parents of the targeted schools met on June 16 to consider the letters of interest. The Committee will make recommendations to the superintendent, who in turn will propose for Board of Education approval leases on some or all of the buildings. The Board will hold a public hearing on the leases on June 29, after which it will vote to approve or deny the leases.

The Co-location plan was passed by the Board in April after months of delay and under heavy pressure from the District Council to share unneeded space with the charter schools. Seven board members voted for the plan; William Lockridge, who represents wards 7 and 8, voted no. One member was absent.

Following the approval of the plan the DCPS facilities office held a series of three meetings to hear what the affected communities thought of the idea of co-location. Two of the three meetings featured well-organized opposition from community activists and from some parents, teachers, and administrators at the target schools. William Lockridge, the only Board member to attend the meetings, spoke at great length against the plan approved by his fellow Board members.

Friends of Choice in Urban Schools
1530 16th Street, NW #104
Washington, DC 20036
(202) 387-0405 phone
(202) 667-3798 fax
www.focusdc.org