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With the Hart district and Los Angeles County having turned down Einstein Academy’s junior high and high school for a charter school renewal, AEA officials are now turning to the courts.
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The Los Angeles County Board of Education rejected the charter school’s appeal of a Hart district denial to continue operations for its junior high and high school with a 4-3 vote Tuesday. The decision does not affect Einstein Academy K-6 operations, which are chartered through the Acton Agua Dulce Unified School District.
However, shortly before Tuesday’s hearing, William S. Hart Union High School officials were served with a writ seeking the court to set aside the district’s March 1 decision denying the charter school’s petition for renewal.
“The district can confirm that we were served (Tuesday) with a petition for a writ of mandate asking us to set aside the Hart district board’s March decision to deny the petition for charter renewal,” said Hart district spokesman Dave Caldwell. “We cannot comment further on pending litigation, but we strongly stand behind our board’s decision that was affirmed by the Los Angeles County Board of Education in their decision yesterday.”
Previous story: Einstein Academy Appeals Charter School Denial To County Education Office
The writ indicates that if the school’s appeal to the county’s Board of Education at the May 16 hearing is unsuccessful, which it ended up being, the school is seeking “injunctive relief.”
School officials essentially are asking for the injunction to halt the district and subsequent county decision pending the school’s appeal to the state Department of Education.
Einstein Academy officials filed the lawsuit because their charter school contract with the Hart district allows them to operate until June 30, 2017. But as the suit notes, the earliest the school could appeal to the district is at the state Board’s meeting in September.
Einstein Academy officials did not return a call regarding a comment for this story, but issued the following statement.
“(Tuesday afternoon), the LACOE Board voted to deny the our appeal. We are preparing our appeal to the SBE and will have it ready for submission by the deadline. As always I am proud of our students, uplifted by our staff and proud to be a part of this organization. We have a board meeting tomorrow at 6:30 p.m.”
District officials gave a two-year approval for the charter school in 2010, and then a five-year approval in 2012, which expires this summer.
“Charter schools, by their nature, are given a short contract of operations,” said Peter Tira, information officer with the state’s Department of Education, “That’s intentional to allow the community and the school board an opportunity to review (the charter school).”
He added that three to five years was the typical length for such a contract between a school district and a charter school.
The Hart district cited numerous grounds for which the school did not have a sound financial plan, in addition questions about its ability to serve the Hart district’s 22,000 junior high and high school students — despite the fact that there were indicators of a strong academic performance noted in comments from several board members during the hearing in March.
One of the concerns Hart district officials had was that Einstein school officials spent the district’s money to try to open school locations outside of the district. AEA officials admitted as much at the hearing, but also said they had no plans to open any additional campuses in the future. However, school officials also said they couldn’t disband the Charter Management Organization that was responsible for overseeing the opening of the schools. Their properties were leased to the CMO, and disbanding the CMO would jeopardize the school’s property lease, according to officials.
The lawsuit also claims the Hart district took no formal action against the school to indicate there was any violation of the charter.
While Hart district officials were unable to comment on the pending litigation, in past interviews, board members have noted several efforts to work with the charter on compliance. The school has also made several changes with respect to the management of its charter.
In the filing, the school also notes “AEALAS has taken great efforts and made great strides in addressing and remedying the issues identified in the 2014 audit.”
Previous story: UPDATE: Draft Report Of Einstein Academy Audit Notes Accounting Concerns
However, the county’s Board of Education staff report was lengthier, and found additional concerns, such as the school’s lack of English language-learners, among other issues that potentially could impact the measuring of academic outcomes.
Hart district officials did not have a pending court date as of Wednesday afternoon for when the matter might be addressed.
Is the underlying reason that the Hart District rejected the charter the competition from a school that may provide better learning for it’s students?
One major reason for non-renewal is the disparity between various demographic group’s academic achievement and growth. The school does not provide better learning for all of it’s students.
I really don’t think so, Mark Rener. The Hart District itself offers excellent education, there are other charters operating within the district without such objections, and your suggested motive should have no bearing on the county Board of Education’s decision.
The real story not shared is the incredible student achievement, the percentage of students attending college and the success of test scores highest in the district. The kids are happy and have excelled on all sorts of levels. Whether this school stays open or not this is the future of the most successful education.
The fact that over 4 million was misspent or missing is the major reason the district denied their charter. The Hart district has a responsibility to ensure that any charter they grant is financially solvent and can remain so into the foreseeable future. Otherwise, the district is on the hook for their expenses and debt. That would put E academy’s burden of dept on the students of the WSHUSD.
Out of curiosity, what happens to the $6.4 million bond that was approved in 2012 (I think) if the junior/high school shuts down? Is the debt forgiven?