With a staff recommendation for approval, Morgan Hill Unified School District’s board of education will convene for a special meeting to vote on the Charter School of Morgan Hill’s petition renewal at 5 p.m. Sept. 29 inside the Live Oak High School Theater.
However, the 21-page review by MHUSD staff is not without its criticism of CSMH, which was initially granted its charter in 2001 and has since been renewed in 2006 and 2010. CSMH leadership submitted its latest petition renewal Aug. 5, asking for another five-year term, since its current agreement expires June 30, 2016.
Staff hits on 16 elements for a charter school petition review, including student demographics, school budget finances, teacher qualifications, curriculum, services and programs, and governing body.
The MHUSD board held a public hearing earlier this month to get input from CSMH parents, students, staff and faculty.
“Staff recommends that the board consider the merits of CSMH’s petition, approve the CSMH renewal petition for a period of five years (July 1, 2016-June 30, 2021) and authorize staff to jointly develop a Memorandum of Understanding with CSMH that addresses the staff findings and joint actions as listed in the petition review by Jan. 15, 2016,” reads the only public agenda item on the Sept. 29 docket.
In the district’s review of CSMH, staff praises the CSMH’s project-based learning strategy plan that aligns with the Common Core State Standards as well as its strong voluntary parent involvement.
However, staff addresses the lack of diversity documented within CSMH’s student demographics with “a total of 24 low socioeconomic disadvantaged students or 4% of the student population” compared to 43 percent at MHUSD schools. Additionally, drawing from the California Department of Education’s Dataquest statistics, staff found only 12 English Learners or 2 percent of the approximately 618 student population.
“CSMH has consistently enrolled a high socioeconomically advantaged student population,” reads the review. “While the reported enrollment reflects that it has drawn 39 percent non-White enrollment, it does not reflect the low socioeconomic disadvantaged students of MHUSD. Instead, it has succeeded in developing a population absent representative socioeconomic advantaged students.”
MHUSD staff suggests CSMH use a weighted lottery system for enrollment that gives more favor to “certain subgroups of educationally disadvantaged students,” which is legal under state law. Also, it identifies that 50 percent of new kindergarten classes are already filled by younger siblings of current CSMH students prior to the lottery.
“The lottery process must be clarified for applicants since half of the seats are already filled with students who have been given admittance preference,” the report states.
Despite the lack of English Learners at CSMH, the review credits CSMH with successfully “addressing the needs of underserved students and presents many programs,” including interventions for at-risk students, ELs and special education student.
When it came to student assessments, the report claims that in “most grade levels MHUSD schools are outperforming CSMH” on the recent California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress when the scores are disaggregated to compare similar students, especially those of non-socioeconomically disadvantaged families.
“Staff recommends that CSMH and MHUSD collaborate to produce common and fair data reporting protocols so as to provide parents and community an accurate picture of disaggregated student achievement,” the report states.
At the conclusion of the public session, the board will adjourn into closed session with conferences with legal counsel regarding anticipated and existing litigation, according to the agenda.
Aug. 5: Petition submitted to MHUSD
Aug. 13: MHUSD requests a mutual extension in accordance with Ed Code 47605(b)
Aug. 24: CSMH Board of Directors declines extension request
Sept. 1: MHUSD hearing on CSMH renewal petition
Sept. 2: Onsite Staff visit to CSMH
Sept. 14: Superintendent meets with CSMH leadership team to review initial analysis
Sept. 23: Superintendent meets with CSMH leadership team to review terms of Memorandum of Understanding
Sept. 29: Staff presentation of review; MHUSD Board Action
