Board to discuss charters

Closure suggestion inspires policy review

In light of a state organization’s recent recommendation that Uncharted Shores Academy be closed, the School Board will discuss Thursday how to better oversee academics at all local charter schools.

The California Charter School Association has recommended that USA’s charter not be renewed due to low test scores.

USA’s charter is authorized under the Del Norte County Office of Education and is up for renewal this year. The School Board will be reviewing USA’s charter renewal proposal at a later meeting — no decision about the school’s future is expected tonight.

“Sometimes crisis provides opportunities for us,” said Superintendent Don Olson. “For me, it was an impetus to look at charter schools.”

Olson said he wanted to share the recommendation with board members along with information from the National Association of Charter School Authorizers on how to oversee charters. NACSA helps authorizing agencies to oversee charter schools.

“I see this as an opportunity for the county board and superintendent to really review our oversight practices,” Olson said. “We’ve been very strong in fiscal oversight, but we need to make improvements in our academic oversight of charter schools.”

This could mean a report from Olson to the board on each charter school’s program, including the curriculum, and whether it’s based on standards and makes clear to students what they’re expected to learn; how students are being assessed; and what’s being done for those who are struggling, Olson said.

Charter schools’ standardized test scores should be as high as they would be at district schools students would otherwise be attending, he said, noting there are about 500 students in charter schools in Del Norte.

There’s a 100-point discrepancy in Academic Performance Index scores, the state’s measure of test scores up to 1,000 points, between charter and mainstream schools, Olson said. Of the charter schools in Del Norte (USA, Castle Rock and Klamath River Early College of the Redwoods), scores are in the low 600s versus district schools that are in the 700s and some at 800, Olson pointed out.

There are charter schools in Humboldt County with API scores in the 800s, he noted.

The School Board can set targets for charter schools to raise student test scores to close the gap, Olson said, because “it’s not the kids’ fault.”

It’s important that the County Office of Education be more involved with the charter schools, reviewing each one’s progress and offering assistance if needed, Olson said.

The NACSA found that when the agencies that authorize charters do a good job of overseeing schools then they perform higher, Olson said.

“This is our opportunity to define what oversight should be and put the pieces in place,” he said.

Taking the time to devise an oversight process will make it  clear “what we want and what the expectations are,” Olson said, while also including the charter schools’ administrations in planning.

Reach Kelley Atherton at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it