Why Was El Camino’s Charter Renewed?

Why Was El Camino’s Charter Renewed?:

Why Was El Camino’s Charter Renewed?

Since we are on a timeline and it seems that the other issues that would prevent a renewal just don’t exist here, that everything else is very, positive…we are on a timeline and I think that we should vote the renewal up or down.”

– Steve Zimmer, LAUSD Board President

It is yet to be revealed just how long the “financial shenanigans” were going on at El Camino Charter High School (ECRCHS), but the records do show that a Notice to Cure (NTC) was issued the charter’s Governing Board on October 28, 2015, that included the allegation that “there were charges on the credit card statement where it was indicated as ‘personal use’ which is inappropriate and does not align to the purpose for use of the public credit card.” In ECRCHS’ response dated November 3, 2015, they “request a December 17th deadline” to take corrective actions because of “the number of requests contained in the NTC”. However, just one week later, on a motion presented by Monica Garcia and seconded by Ref Rodriguez, the LAUSD Board ignored the existence of the uncorrected financial issues outlined in the NTC and unanimously voted to extend the charter by another five years.

While “certain transactions, specifically in the areas of credit card use and check disbursement, which require the attention and timely implementation of CSD requests for board action” might be an issue “that would prevent a renewal”, the October 28, 2015, NTC was not discussed or even mentioned during the LAUSD Board hearing. Their time was spent instead on another NTC that had been issued because ECRCHS had enrolled more students than allowed by their charter. As of the hearing date, they were still not in compliance with this issue Why Was El Camino’s Charter Renewed?: