Would You Recognize Real Parent and Community Engagement If It Jumped Up and Bit You on Your Butt?
Tonight SCUSD has an opportunity to support real parent and community engagement and authorize a New Charter School at the old Joseph Bonnheim Elementary site. The Plan has the support of students, parents and community leaders.
From SacBee article Parents want to convert closed Sacramento campus into charter school "A group of parents Thursday night will urge Sacramento City Unified trustees to approve a charter school at Joseph Bonnheim Elementary, one of seven campuses closed last year due to falling enrollment.
The petition – initiated by parents late last year – seeks to educate more than 320 K-6 students starting in the fall. The charter school would hire district teachers, administrators and classified staff subject to collective bargaining. That approach helped parents win support last month of the Sacramento City Teachers Association, which historically has been critical of charter schools.So what is the problem?
Many backers of New Joseph Bonnheim Community Charter School opposed the elementary school closures, which predominantly affected lower-income neighborhoods with disadvantaged students. Before Bonnheim’s closure, 94 percent of students at the south Sacramento campus qualified for free or reduced-price meals.
The school’s theme would be based on agriculture, drawing from the industry in the region. It touts support from agricultural organizations and educational institutions. The charter school also would pursue a “body-brain approach to teaching” that incorporates physical activity into academic exercises.
The educational plan, according to the petition, mirrors the Yav Pem Suab Academy on South Land Park Drive, which includes a Hmong-language component. The academy was founded by Dennis Mah and approved as an independent charter in the district in 2010. Mah has offered to lend $300,000 in startup costs and to work for free at Bonnheim, he said."
New Joseph Bonnheim proponents initially submitted an application in December, but district staff recommended that the board reject the school. They said petitioners failed to adequately describe challenges facing the school’s target population, show an understanding of student needs or define approaches that would meet those needs. The board at the time voted to table the petition so that it could be retooled for reconsideration.
The latest petition has found similar district resistance. In a report Friday, staff reviewers found the proposed educational program lacked clarity in governance and hiring matters. And they repeated warnings that the petitioners are unlikely to succeed in launching the charter school and did not meet state Education Code requirements in explaining programs.My question is why is "STAFF" so opposed to this type of Parent and Community Engagement. You would think that if you could have this level of support for any school that you would find a way to make it work. Not keep saying this is wrong and that is wrong.
So I say to the SCUSD Board, take a chance on Real Parent and Community Engagement and grant this petition.