Embattled Mystic Valley Regional Charter School reported wrong data to state
A Malden charter school that recently faced criticism for banning certain hairstyles reported erroneous information to regulators about the number of students who left during the academic year, according to state education officials.
The data from Mystic Valley Regional Charter School cast a negative light on the school and made it appear — errantly — that many students had given up and left.
Schools report a mountain of student data to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education each year, information that is not audited by regulators, according to department spokeswoman Jacqueline Reis. Much of the information is then posted to the agency’s website.
But before it is publicly released, the data are sent back to each school to make sure they are accurate, Reis said.
Yet neither regulators nor administrators from Mystic Valley caught the mistaken information regarding the 2014 school year in the Malden district, which has been posted on the state’s website for two years.
The Globe used this information in a June 18 story about Mystic Valley’s track record of serving students who are disabled, have extra needs, or are low income. The story included an analysis of the percentage of these students who have stayed at Mystic Valley during the past five years.
One of those years — 2014 — included the problematic data, known as stability rates. The school reported to state regulators that approximately 25 percent of students left during 2014. The rate of departure reported by Mystic Valley during other years ranged from approximately 2 to about 5 percent.
It was after the Globe’s story appeared that Mystic Valley administrators acknowledged to the state that the 2014 figure was wrong.
The error happened the same year Mystic Valley adopted a new computer system, but it remains unclear whether that contributed to the mistake.
Mystic Valley’s error made it appear the school had among the worst stability rates of the six nearby communities.
The charter school made national news in May when some parents accused administrators of discriminatory policies toward black and biracial students. The school’s dress code prohibits extensions — additional hair that is woven in — citing them as an example of a style that is Embattled charter school reported wrong data to state - The Boston Globe:
