Birmingham Community Charter High School has until May 23 to respond to concerns that it mishandled admissions, expulsions and claims of racial bias as it fights to prevent Los Angeles Unified from retaking control of the campus.
The LAUSD board issued a notice of violations on Tuesday, the first of three steps in revoking the school's charter. As outlined in an April 13 letter from Superintendent John Deasy, the charter faces allegations that include racial discrimination against African-American players on the basketball team, as well as claims that neighborhood children and special-education students were denied admission to the charter.
Board member Tamar Galatzan said she wants the school to act quickly to remedy the "very serious" allegations of discrimination and high numbers of expulsions at Birmingham, but also raised concerns about poor communication between the district and the school.
"I'm the board member for Birmingham and a Birmingham High School graduate, so the school means a lot to me," Galatzan said. "I look forward to reading your response and a detailed plan and how to remedy those problems. I pledge that the district will work with you. But you have to be open, too."
In an interview after the meeting, Larry Schapiro, who chairs Birmingham's board of directors, said school