Tuesday’s LAUSD Board meeting is turning into a showdown between more than a dozen charter schools petitioning for renewal or approval and LAUSD over proposed policy changes to language the district requires charters to put in their petitions -- some of which limits the ability of charters to make multi-year lease deals for LAUSD campus space.

The Charter Schools Division staff is recommending the denial of 11 charter renewals and three new charter school petitions at once – an unprecedented number. The vast majority of the denial recommendations have nothing to do with how well these high-performing schools serve kids but are instead a result of this policy dispute.

Schools from Alliance and Magnolia are on the chopping block, while schools from STEM Prep and Equitas Academy have new school petitions at risk. One new and six existing and high-performing KIPP schools are being recommended for renewal -- but only on the condition that they revert back to the original district language within 30 days, or else risk potential revocation of their charters.  

State law calls for student achievement to be the primary consideration in the approval process, and that does not appear to be the case with these denial recommendations. Instead, LAUSD is recommending denial because the charters are seeking changes to district rules that create uncertainty for schools and families.

A significant majority of parents surveyed by LAUSD support the policy of randomly wanding students for weapons at school, despite vocal opposition from charter schools, civil rights groups and United Teachers Los Angeles, as well as questions about its effectiveness and fairness.

LAUSD Administrator of District Operations Daryl Narimatsu presented the survey data to the LAUSD Board Tuesday at a special meeting to explore the mandatory policy of requiring random daily searches with a hand-held metal detectors at all LAUSD schools.

Hours after Board Member Ref Rodriguez pleaded not guilty to campaign money laundering charges, Board President Monica Garcia (BD2), Vice President Nick Melvoin (BD4) and Board Member Kelly Gonez (BD6) jointly called for him to take a leave of absence from the Board. Rodriguez responded with a refusal: "I'm am not doing so," he said.

The four Board members -- Garcia, Melvoin, Gonez and Rodriguez -- have made up a change-minded, majority-voting bloc in support of a Kids-First agenda since the new Board was seated in July. Rodriguez stepped down from his post as Board President last month, but since then, the allegations against him have expanded to include a financial conflict of interest complaint from the charter organization that he co-founded. The Fair Political Practices Commission has already closed the complaint, citing the pending criminal case.

His closest Board allies released a joint statement Tuesday calling his situation a distraction. “Nobody should be tried in the press or the court of public opinion without having a fair hearing. But in order to keep making progress towards our goal of 100% graduation, we have asked Dr. Rodriguez to take a leave of absence from the Board. As with any employee of the district who is accused of misconduct, this allows for a quicker resolution while enabling the District to continue its work.”

Rodriguez remained unbowed to the pressure from his colleagues. He appeared at the special Board meeting on LAUSD’s policy of wanding students for weapons Tuesday and released a statement on social media in the midst of the meeting. 

"In May 2015, I was elected by the constituents of Board District 5 to serve a five-year term on the Board," he said. "I have dedicated my life to provide better educational opportunities to all students in our communities...I am a dedicated public servant, and I have faith in the truth. I believe in the integrity of the justice system, where I will respond to the allegations."

The Board will hold a special meeting Tuesday to study wanding, the practice of conducting daily, random student searches with hand-held metal detectors, which has been LAUSD policy since 1994.

Wanding began in response to a fatal shooting at Fairfax High School, and LAUSD currently requires the practice of all of its middle, high and adult schools, as well as at independent charters.

The topic became a hot-button issue last year when LAUSD attempted to tighten what it believed was lax enforcement of the policy and was met with resistance by a dozen Los Angeles charter organizations, United Teachers Los Angeles, civil liberties groups and a number of dissatisfied teachers, parents and students.

The expansion of dual language programs is improving the academic outcomes of LAUSD’s English Language Learners, district staff told board members at the Committee of the Whole meeting at Fairfax High Tuesday.

While only 26 percent of LAUSD students overall are meeting or exceeding English language standards, 49 percent of students in dual language programs are doing so. Kids in dual language programs are also outperforming students in the general population at their same schools.

LAUSD is losing enrollment at an even faster pace than projected, meaning $17 million less revenue this year and $18 million next year.

With a total of 501,271 kids enrolled this fall, LAUSD lost just over 13,000 students from last year, a decline of 2.55 percent, which was higher than the 2.1 percent expected.

“That’s like a small school district we’re losing every year,” said LAUSD CFO Scott Price during a presentation at Tuesday’s board meeting, which also exposed the difficult feelings of board members who are no longer in the majority voting bloc since the May school board elections.

“I feel disenfranchised,” said Board Member Richard Vladovic (BD7). “I’m not being heard, and nobody cares … I don’t even feel like it’s worth coming to the meeting anymore because it’s like talking to the air … I know my vote doesn’t count.”

As UTLA prepares to picket at school sites Wednesday, LAUSD Board Vice President Nick Melvoin (ND4) offered some straight talk on union demands and what’s at stake for kids.

"Again, we all agree we need more revenue. I join UTLA and have been calling for more state funding since I launched the campaign. But if you have a finite pool of money, which we do -- unless there is money we don’t know about it, and if so, we hope the union will tell it where it is -- then if you decrease class sizes, then you have to hire more teachers. And that costs a lot of money. And then there’s less money for raises. So while both are noble goals, it is magical thinking unless we’re tying it to potential increases in funding. And that’s one thing I talked about on the campaign: Let’s look at more statewide funding, let’s look at a parcel tax, and let’s have some bargain where some of it would pay down the liability, some would be for class size reduction, and maybe some would be for art instructors. Those are conversations we should have. But this idea of we want class size decreases and more teachers without showing us where the money is, that’s magical thinking."

We spoke to Monica Garcia as on the eve of her first regular LAUSD Board Meeting as President. She talked about the new board that was seated in July, parent power, union negotiations and threats of a teachers strike.

"We have to do more. If the system stays the same, I think that’s where there’s a lot of crisis that we would inflict upon ourselves...Those are choices before us, and the choice to do nothing is a bad choice."

The LAUSD Board voted 4-3 to elect Monica Garcia (BD2) as board president Tuesday, and she selected Nick Melvoin (BD4) as her vice president.

New Board President Expected To Be Chosen Tuesday

Highlights of the Sept. 19 Committee of the Whole Meeting:

·   Dr. Ref Rodriguez has stepped down as LAUSD Board President while retaining his board seat as the representative for District 5.

·   LAUSD disclosed that it has a higher number of students on track to graduate, and a higher number on track to graduate with a C or above in A-G classes than at the same time last year.

·   The board discussed the shortage of qualified college counselors to help students close the gap between their ambitions to attend four-year colleges and their post-graduation realities.

       LAUSD Superintendent Michelle King announced that high school graduation rates topped 80 percent in 2017, a record-breaking increase from last year and hitting a benchmark goal ahead of schedule.

·      The LAUSD Board unanimously passed a resolution intended to make graduation rates more meaningful, by ensuring that graduates are ready for college and careers. The resolution calls on the district to collect data on indicators of college readiness, college application and graduation rates. And it asks the district to consider having every student take PSATs and SATs and providing access to a college counselor and online counseling portal for every student.

·   The Board unanimously passed a resolution to support passage of a state bill, AB 621, which would create a summer bridge fund to help classified employees who have summers off and often suffer during those months without income. Some board members, including Nick Melvoin and Kelly Gonez, however, voiced opposition to paying for this out of the general fund.  

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