06 May WCCUSD Denies Richmond Charter Academy Renewal Over ‘Many Concerns’

(Screenshot captured by Samantha Kennedy / The CC Pulse)

By Samantha Kennedy

Two weeks after approving the renewal of another charter school despite diversity shortcomings, West Contra Costa Unified officials denied Richmond Charter Academy’s renewal for what one board member said was “a lot of concerns.”

Board members denied the five-year renewal in a 4-0 vote at the April 30 meeting, with board member Cinthia Hernandez recusing herself, for concerns about the charter’s finances, governance and lack of diversity.

“I can’t agree to a (memorandum of understanding) to fix a couple of things. There are many concerns,” said board member Demetrio Gonzalez-Hoy. “As parents, even if you appeal and the county or state agrees to keep the school open, you need to ask leadership and your board for better and more.”

RCA, a middle school run by the nonprofit Amethod Public Schools, can appeal the school board’s decision to the Contra Costa County Board of Education, which could decide to keep the school open.

Concerns that the charter’s finances lacked transparency and were not enough to keep the school’s programs afloat, largely because of a budget deficit, were the primary reasons board members chose to deny the charter’s renewal.

“Misinformation, lack of information to our staff — the numbers don’t even make sense from what we’re getting from our staff, AMPS and the school,” said Gonzalez-Hoy.

According to WCCUSD’s staff reports, RCA’s deficit was $880,516 at the end of the 2023-24 school year. RCA drafted a fiscal solvency plan that it said would have allowed the school to remain solvent by the end of the next school year.

Financial troubles in Amethod schools are not unique to RCA. The Alameda County Board of Education denied an appeal by the nonprofit’s Oakland Charter High School last month to keep the school open after Oakland Unified first denied the school. OUSD, in part, denied the renewal for financial concerns related to inconsistent and untimely audit reports and ineffective oversight.

Gonzalez-Hoy said that, even though AMPS made some changes after the findings, it was still found that some of the same financial and governance problems were occurring.

Amethod also runs John Henry High School and Benito Juarez Elementary in Richmond, the latter of which will be up for renewal in 2027.

“I know Amethod has made mistakes,” Adrienne Barnes, acting CEO of AMPS, told the board at the April 30 meeting, “but my team and I are absolutely correcting those.”

Like the Alameda County Board of Education when ruling on an appeal by Amethod last month, board president Leslie Reckler and Gonzalez-Hoy noted the dedicated and passionate leadership of Amethod, including Barnes. But they also questioned how long that leadership would be in place, given the high turnover of administrators and staff.

Several students and parents showed up at the meeting in support of the school’s renewal, citing relationships with staff and student achievement.

“I feel like I belong. In my community, immigrants are being targeted and live in fear of deportation, but school is where I feel safe. Why take that away?” said Efrain, an RCA student. “RCA gave me hope.”

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Board members acknowledged some of the school’s accomplishments related to academic achievement — academic achievement is higher at RCA than the average of WCCUSD.

“You might feel there are good outcomes — there are good academic outcomes, I agree — maybe for your child,” said Gonzalez-Hoy. “But as an organization, it is not being handled correctly.”

Of the 286 students enrolled at the school, 91% are Latino. Black students are 4% of RCA’s student population, accounting for 12 students, according to site director Jasmine Landers. WCCUSD’s enrollment of Black students is 11.5%.

Students with disabilities are also underrepresented at RCA, with 8% of the student population being disabled in the 2023-24 school year. That’s grown to 12%, according to RCA, but is still less than the 14% in WCCUSD.

“I think that having one handful of African American students at a school is unacceptable,” said board member Jamela Smith-Folds.

She also said it was unacceptable that the anti-racist statement was difficult to find on the school website and that leadership could not articulate how students are protected with the anti-racist statement.

If RCA appeals the decision to the county board of education and it denies the appeal, RCA can appeal again to the State Board of Education.