Blog note: this article references four grand jury reports about the school district.
FAIRFIELD — More than 150 people in a standing-room-only meeting Wednesday heard supporters and opponents of the proposed Elite Charter School – and two Solano County Board of Education members say that the “opportunity gap” for African-American and Latino students must be addressed.
Board member Dana Dean said after 47 people spoke about the charter proposal that she was deeply troubled that every supporter is a person of color and every opponent is white.
That statement brought protests from several charter school opponents disputing Dean’s assessment of speakers.
Dean went on to ask that if Elite isn’t the application that will address the opportunity gap, what will? She called the petition from Elite the best she’s seen this year among several from proposed charters that went before the board.
“That’s not a high bar,” Dean said.
Board member Amy Sharp also asked opponents of the charter school what they are going to put forth to deal with the opportunity gap.
The charter school proposal is scheduled to return Jan. 10 to the county board of education for action.
Ramona Bishop, former Vallejo City School District superintendent and lead petitioner for Elite, said Wednesday that its charter school students will be “trilingual” in English, Spanish and coding.
“If you live in California, you should speak Spanish,” Bishop said.
Half of kindergartners in the state are Latino, she said.
Alameda, San Francisco and Sacramento counties are addressing the opportunity gap, Bishop said.
“We are just bringing this model to Solano County,” she said.
Judi Honeychurch, of the Fairfield-Suisun School District board of trustees, said to the county board that the programs Elite outlined in its proposal already exist in the Fairfield-Suisun district.
Cheri Summer, chief academic officer of the Vallejo City School District, told the county Board of Education that Elite’s petition doesn’t provide enough details about how it will put in place planned programs.
“The blueprint,” Summers said, “is simply inadequate.”
Opponents, including James Hinton, cited Bishop’s six years as Vallejo superintendent and problems that led to four Solano County grand jury reports about the school district.
Supporters said Elite will provide opportunities now unavailable to students.
The Rev. Danny Jefferson, president of the Vallejo Faith Organization, said people of color always have to struggle when seeking to obtain power and resources.
Alana Shackelford called Elite “more than just a school.”
“It is the answer to my concern,” she said.
The 506-page charter school petition states staff at the Elite schools will focus on accelerating the achievement of all students while “eliminating the opportunity gap.”
African-American and Latino students are the two groups in Solano County whose performance is below the average, according to the petition.
The graduation rate for the two student groups is below the average while dropout rates exceed the average, the petition adds.
“The Elite staff will focus on ensuring that students attending the school will receive instruction on the history and accomplishments of mainstream America while also receiving cross-cultural instruction on the history and accomplishments of African-Americans and Latinos,” according to the petition.
Schools would open in August 2018 with children in kindergarten through sixth-grade, and at full capacity in 2022-23 will serve more than 2,500 children and teens in kindergarten through 12th grade at three campuses, according to the petition.
December 14, 2017
Daily Republic
By Ryan McCarthy
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