Stockton Unified staff says Unbound charter school doesn't meet standards

The future of a charter school that has already been struck down once by Stockton Unified School District and San Joaquin County Office of Education trustees will soon be sealed.

The Stockton Unified board will make a decision Tuesday on Unbound Stockton's new charter petition. The organization is seeking trustee approval to establish the Unbound Stockton Community School for an initial five-year term starting on July 1, 2024, and ending on June 30, 2029.

In a 13-page staff report, the district's review team stated that the petition did not meet the minimum legal standards under the Education Code to qualify for approval and recommended the board deny the petition. If denied, it would be Unbound Stockton's second failed attempt to open a charter school.

Backers of the Unbound Stockton Community School have tried since May 2022 to open a charter school that would teach students from fourth through eighth grade. The organization said it plans to serve about 120 students in grades 4-6 in its first school year and then expand by one grade level each year. At full build-out, the charter school is estimated to serve about 300 students.

Unbound Stockton is led by Executive Director Phillip Hon, a former teacher and school administrator. Hon received his bachelor's degree in public policy from Stanford University, a master's degree in curriculum and instruction and administration and leadership from University of the Pacific, and an M.Ed. degree in school leadership from Columbia University.

According to Unbound Stockton's website, the organization began exploring models for community schools in 2008. Since then, the organization said it has learned and tested strategies to cultivate diverse, equitable, and inclusive school cultures, piloted programming for more than 150 students, held focus groups, and participated in community events.

"Students at Unbound Stockton Community School will not simply learn a pre-packaged curriculum within the four walls of their classrooms. Students will experience a highly immersive curriculum driven by the community that incorporates local knowledge and is tied to real-world issues prevalent in the community," the website reads. "Students will have the opportunity to connect weekly with leaders and organizations throughout Stockton to enhance their rigorous Common Core State Standard-aligned instruction."

But Stockton Unified officials haven't shown much confidence in the organization's plans.

In a meeting last August, Unbound Stockton's first proposal was denied by the district, with the review team citing concerns related to enrollment projections, financial reserves, underestimation of operating expenses, and failure to substantiate facilities costs in the proposed budget.

At the time, district officials also said that approval of the petition would have a negative fiscal impact on Stockton Unified.

"The charter school was demonstrably unlikely to serve the interests of the entire community in which the school is proposing to locate," officials said. "This finding was based on duplication of established district programs and other charter schools already operating within the district while such schools and programs are not at capacity."

Unbound Stockton appealed the denial of the petition to the San Joaquin County Board of Education in September 2022. The county board ultimately rejected the petition, citing similar concerns as the district. The organization submitted a revised petition to Stockton Unified in June.

However, the new staff report shows that district officials are still concerned about the fiscal impact opening a new charter school may have.

"Based on the location petitioners have identified as where the charter school intends to be located, the charter school will likely undermine existing district programs providing services to some of its most vulnerable student populations," staff said in the report.

"To this end, the charter school would potentially pull enrollment from Spanos Elementary, Cleveland Elementary, and other school sites in the same zone area, resulting in not only a loss of funding for each school but a corresponding loss in staffing and thereby each school’s ability to provide the variety of programs currently being offered."

Staff also stated that the program proposed in the petition still maintains significant duplication with schools, including charter schools, already operating within Stockton Unified.

"The comparative program analysis of the petition’s 'Mission, Key Pillars and Core Values' against a sample of SUSD elementary schools reveals that all elements of the Unbound Stockton model are already present in existing SUSD schools," staff said. "And again, the petition’s focus on school community, equity, lifelong learning, and self-awareness are present features in all sampled SUSD primary schools."

At a July 25 public hearing, community members spoke both in favor of and against the petition.

"This is a homegrown program. This is someone, Phillip, who has a passion and characteristic that he will not stop until he makes sure that everyone has an equal educational opportunity," Katie Poole, a business analyst for County of San Joaquin, said. "This is one school that is created by a Stocktonian, for Stocktonians, to build a better future for Stockton."

Harpreet Chima, former 9th Congressional District candidate and current Fix SUSD organizer — a group of students, parents, SUSD staff and community members formed in response to the second scathing grand jury report on the school district in a year — said he had concerns about existing schools missing out on funding if a new charter school opens.

"In California, the money that gets set aside for students' education goes with them if they leave a public school for a charter school," Chima said. "Building charters says that you're giving up on public education for the rest of Stockton families and giving a lottery shot to them to get their kid into one of these charters."

The second public hearing will be held during Tuesday's meeting, before the board takes action to either approve or deny the petition.

The board will meet in closed session 4 p.m. Tuesday at the Arthur Coleman Jr. Administrative Complex and reconvene into open session at 5:15 p.m. The Aug. 22 agenda can be viewed through Stockton Unified's website.

Record reporter Hannah Workman covers news in Stockton and San Joaquin County. She can be reached at hworkman@recordnet.com or on Twitter @byhannahworkman. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.

This article originally appeared on The Record: Stockton Unified says Unbound charter school doesn't meet standards