The board of Phoenix Charter School hosted a public meeting on the future of the institution at the Texas National Guard Armory in Greenville on Dec. 15. The Greenville Herald-Banner reports that hundreds attended the event organized in response to news that the Texas Education Agency plans to revoke the school’s charter.
Chief Academic Officer Derek Love said that one of the deficiencies cited the in TEA’s report was the result of a clerical error, the Herald-Banner reported. State data shows that in the Class of 2010, 13 of 21 students (61.9 percent) graduated, which contributed to an “Academically Unacceptable” rating for Phoenix for that year.
Love told the crowd at the Dec. 15 event that four students who had left Phoenix were not properly identified as attending their new school, resulting in the failed rating, the report said.
“We found all four students and where they went, and made an appeal to the state, and the state said ‘no,’” Love said.
Phoenix was also docked by the TEA for an annual financial report that was turned in to the state four months late in 2013. The school’s Fiscal Year 2012 report was turned in on May 28, 2013, which was four months past the due date of Jan. 28, 2013, and three months past the end of the one-month grace period that would have allowed to the school to avoid a “Substandard” financial accountability rating.
Love said the deadline fell during a transition time between administrations, according to the Herald-Banner.
In 2014, Phoenix received an “Improvement Required” rating in academic accountability because of a low score in the “Closing Performance Gaps” category. That criterion measures the discrepancy in academic performance between students from different economic circumstances and ethnicities. Using results from that year’s State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness results, the TEA found what it considers a too-large gap between the scores of economically disadvantaged students, African-American students, Hispanic students and other Phoenix students. The school scored 497 out of a possible 2,000 points in that category.
Regarding that deficiency, Phoenix board president Maxine Thomas said the TEA was judging statistics from five years ago by new standards, according to the Herald-Banner.
“[Senate Bill 2] is unfair,” she said. “The TEA is holding us accountable in the past by present standards. We were shocked when the news came out. This wasn’t on anyone’s radar. We weren’t on anyone’s list.”
Senate Bill 2, which was passed into law by the 2013 Texas Legislature, tightened the compliance standards for charter schools.
The Texas Charter Schools Association, the membership of which includes Phoenix Charter School and most Texas charter schools, supported the measure.
Administrators from Phoenix Charter School have until Jan. 12, 2015, to request a hearing on the status of their charter. Should the school request a hearing, the matter would be referred to the state’s Office of Administrative Hearings. The decision of an administrative law judge in such a hearing process is final.
Other schools selected for charter revocation include: Academy of Careers and Technologies Charter School (San Antonio); Bay Area Charter School (El Lago and League City); Bright Ideas Charter School (Wichita Falls); City Center Health Careers (San Antonio); Faith Family Academy of Oak Cliff (Dallas); Girls & Boys Preparatory Academy (Houston); Henry Ford Academy Alameda School For Art + Design (San Antonio); Higgs, Carter, King Gifted & Talented Charter Academy (San Antonio); Ignite Public Schools and Community Service Centers (Brownsville, Edinburg, Mission, Raymondville, Rio Grande City and Weslaco); Medical Center Charter School (Houston); Northwest Preparatory Academy Charter School (Humble); San Antonio Technology Academy (San Antonio); and Transformative Charter Academy (Killeen).
Founded in 1986, The Phoenix School entered into a charter contract with the State of Texas in 2001.
