County Board of Education approves charter school on 5-2 vote

Jan. 11—After several reports, two previously failed proposals and hours of public comment, the Central Academy of Arts and Technology has won approval to become Bakersfield's newest charter school.

The Kern County Board of Education voted 5-2 Tuesday to approve the 350-student school, which had been denied in August by the Bakersfield City School District Board on grounds that staff "found ongoing unsound practices in their petition."

Backers of the Central Academy for the Arts and Technology, or CAAT, have tried since summer to open a charter school that would teach students from transitional kindergarten through twelfth grade in downtown Bakersfield, though no location has been finalized.

Supporters failed twice in their petitions to BCSD, which found significant technical issues in the charter plan related to staffing, curriculum and policies. The district found other areas that it said "did not provide enough description or clarity."

In its own, 16-page review of the proposed charter school, the Kern County Superintendent of Schools recommended the Board of Education deny the proposal, echoing some of BCSD's concerns.

"I think overall the concern was whether or not they had planned comprehensively enough to make sure that students' needs would be met," said Lisa Gilbert, the county's assistant superintendent of instructional services.

The county board nevertheless approved the charter's petition, stating that the issues identified could be resolved in a memorandum of understanding between the school district and CAAT. An MOU is expected to be presented at a board meeting coming Feb. 14.

"That is, if everything goes well, if we reach an agreement, then we should have that to the board by February," Gilbert said.

Members of the Board of Education did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday.

Gilbert said that, in the interim, the board's staff will meet with the petitioner's team and address concerns "item by item." She added that CAAT representatives present for Tuesday's vote said they "were more than willing to meet," and "address any concerns identified."

Those representatives did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday.

In its 43-page response to findings by the superintendent's office, CAAT representatives repeatedly stated concerns raised by the superintendent's office were "speculative, and not based on facts."

Of those concerns, staff found inconsistencies with descriptions of programming for English learners, special education and disadvantaged students.

"If you read the petition, there are, at times, different types of descriptions as to what their program will include and not include," Gilbert said.

Gilbert added that there were several instances where what CAAT wrote was "not binding."

"For us that meant you're not telling us what your program's going to look like, you're just giving us a general idea of what might look like. For us, that wasn't enough," Gilbert said. "We really wanted to understand what staffing would be in place, what types of different support services would be made available and what the program would look like for students with disabilities."

While not a reason for denial, staff also noted that the charter school would not provide transportation.

"One of the goals of charters is to reflect the diversity of the district," Gilbert said. "When you look at the demographic that attends Bakersfield City School District, our hope would be that the demographics that attended that school are similar, and if you were not going to provide transportation, that may limit some of those student groups from attending your school."

BCSD has an enrollment of approximately 29,307 students. Almost 93 percent are considered socioeconomically disadvantaged, according to the district.

"Foster youth or homeless students or some socioeconomically disadvantaged students whose parents have to work and leave ... they don't have a way to get to school," Gilbert said. "Not providing transportation could preclude those types of students from attending."

There was also an estimated budget of $165 per student for supplies.

"There's only a little over $100 per student for supplies," Gilbert said. "When you look at the cost of textbooks, laptops or any kind of thing like that — it's typically more than that."

Several advocacy groups, including the Dolores Huerta Foundation, the California Teachers Association and several teachers unions protested against the petition, stating it did not outline adequate staffing and resources for English-language learners.

"It's not comprehensive and it will not serve English-language learners, and for that matter, Latino students," said Ashley De La Rosa, education policy director for the Dolores Huerta Foundation.

Nearly 24 percent of BCSD enrollees, or 7,003 students, are considered English learners. Just over 10 percent, or 2,988, are considered students with disabilities.

De La Rosa pointed out that the petition includes denial of a student's chance to appeal in the event of an expulsion from school. She said an opportunity to appeal "is a second chance to not have a label attached to them."

"Especially right now, after the COVID-19 pandemic, students are suffering from mental health issues at really high rates and schools often do not have the adequate resources to deal with it," De La Rosa said.

Statistics reported by the U.S. Department of Education's Civil Rights Data Collection found that Kern schools during 2010-11 had one of the highest rates of suspensions and expulsions in the country. It reported four times the statewide average and seven times the national average in 2006, when it was last previously recorded.

In its own report, CAAT highlighted that "there is no requirement to include the right to appeal and this does not represent a violation of due process."

It added that students may be expelled following a hearing "before it or by CAAT's Board of Directors upon the recommendation of a neutral and impartial administrative panel," adding that this panel shall consist of at least three certified members who are neither a teacher of the student nor a member of CAAT's governing board.

While CAAT originally intended to open in fall 2023, Gilbert said the school's representatives told Kern County Superintendent of Schools staff they will instead use the next year to plan and open the doors in fall 2024.

Gilbert clarified that the superintendent's office and the county education board both support charter schools in Kern and have seen "tremendous" outcomes from past launches.

"Our goal is just to make sure that whichever school is being offered to students in Kern are high quality and meet all of the legal requirements," Gilbert said.