Shut down Uncharted Shores?

Charter school: Recommendation is not appropriate

Uncharted Shores Academy in Crescent City is one of 10 charter schools in the state that should be closed due to low test scores, according to the  California Charter School Association.

Uncharted Shores’ charter is up for renewal in 2012 by the Del Norte County Office of Education. The school’s director, Margie Rouge, said Monday that Uncharted Shores meets state regulations for renewal.

Student test scores have steadily improved in the last two years, she said, but they still don’t meet CCSA’s criteria.

The school serves about 100 students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

“CCSA going in this direction is not really supporting charter schools,” Rouge said. Instead, the organization made the recommendation to “look good to the state,” she said

CCSA is a membership and professional organization that serves charter public schools in California, of which Uncharted Shores is a member.

The Charter Schools Development Center, of which Uncharted Shores is also a member, has denounced CCSA’s recommendation.

Uncharted Shores did not meet CCSA’s criteria for charter renewal, according to its website, calcharters.org.

To meet this criteria, charter schools must have at least one of the following: 700 points on the state’s measure of academic performance, have increased by 50 points in the last three years, or its students’ test scores are within range of similar student populations statewide.

Uncharted Shores raised its score on the state’s Academic Performance Index from 622 to 633 this year and has achieved at least 50 points’ growth in the last two years. However, three years ago, an influx of low-performing students dropped the school’s API score, effectively canceling out the school’s growth according to CCSA’s criteria, Rouge said.

She noted that Del Norte has a high rate of poverty and children with parents’ who didn’t graduate high school — that affects their performance, she said.

Since opening in 2007, Uncharted Shores has raised student test scores, Rouge said, but that’s only one aspect of evaluation.

“We expect that we’re going to raise test scores,” she said, “but we’re getting kids ready for the work world.”

Just because students don’t reach proficient or advanced on state standards tests doesn’t mean they’re not worthwhile, Rouge said.

She said CCSA officials didn’t visit the school, talk to staff or consider more than just test score data.

“One aspect doesn’t seem right to base a decision on,” she said. “They just looked just at the statistics.”

Instead of recommending it close, CCSA should help the school improve, Rouge said.

CCSA identified 31 charter schools that did not meet its criteria and recommended 10 schools with charters that expire by June 2012 not be renewed. These include schools in San Francisco, San Diego and West Sacramento.

“We know in this day of accountability, there’s a much greater eye on education — charter or public school — everyone wants us to be performing well,” said County Office of Education Superintendent Don Olson.

Olson said he was informed of CCSA’s recommendation for closure of Uncharted Shores by Rouge herself and hasn’t had any correspondence with the organization.

The School Board has to follow state regulations for renewing a charter school, Olson said. The state requires that the charter school at least meet its API target growth for the last year, which Uncharted Shores did.

Uncharted Shores will present its charter renewal proposal to the School Board in late January.  Board members will look at all information pertaining to the charter renewal, including CCSA’s recommendation against it, Olson said.

“Closing a school is a very emotional thing,” he said. “People love that school and think highly of the program there — we don’t take that lightly.”

Rouge is concerned that CCSA’s recommendation will hold more merit than the state’s requirements for charter renewal.

“We meet all the regulations,” she said, adding, “We’re going to have to address this. We’re going to set up a petition on why we should be renewed and addressing why CCSA made this recommendation. We do not feel it’s a true picture of our school.”

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