Report to Mayor and City Council
Tuesday, May 07, 2019
Discussion
SUBJECT:
Title
CONSIDER RESOLUTION NO. 19-094, A RESOLUTION SUPPORTING THE PARENTS, TEACHERS AND STUDENTS OF CATSKILL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN THEIR OPPOSITION TO THE APPROVAL OF LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT APPROVING THE CO-LOCATION OF A PRIVATE CHARTER SCHOOL ON THEIR CAMPUS (CITY COUNCIL)
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I. SUMMARY
This item was considered at a Special City Council Meeting held on April 26, 2019. At the meeting, the City Council voted 3-0 (MPT Hicks, Councilmember Davis-Holmes, Councilmember Dear) to approve Resolution 19-086. The Resolution was sent to the LAUSD Board prior to May 1. Below is the staff report from April 26 in its entirety; in addition, staff has attached a version of the same resolution that was adopted on April 26, 2019, and numbered it 19-094 (Exhibit No. 2). Mayor Robles has requested that the new Resolution be listed on this agenda for consideration as a new item, so that it can be heard at a Regular Meeting.
Below is the staff report from April 26 in its entirety:
This item was included on the April 16, 2019 Council Meeting agenda in the section Council Member Requests for Future Agenda Items. It did not receive enough votes to be added to the May 7 agenda. Several dozen teachers and parents attended the April 16 City Council meeting, requesting that the City support them in their opposition to LAUSD’s decision to co-locate a private charter school on their campus at Catskill Elementary School. This resolution was not added to the April 16 agenda as a supplemental need item. Councilmembers Davis-Holmes and Dear and Mayor Pro Tem Hicks added it to the April 26 Special Meeting Agenda.
II. RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
1. ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 19-086, A RESOLUTION SUPPORTING THE PARENTS, TEACHERS AND STUDENTS OF CATSKILL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN THEIR OPPOSITION TO THE APPROVAL OF LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT APPROVING THE CO-LOCATION OF A PRIVATE CHARTER SCHOOL ON THEIR CAMPUS
2. DIRECT staff to send an approved copy of this resolution to the Los Angeles Unified School District Board prior to May 1.
1.
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III. ALTERNATIVES
DO NOT APPROVE this resolution.
IV. BACKGROUND
Proposition 39, “The Smaller Classes, Safer Schools and Financial Accountability Act of 2000” (“Prop. 39”) is a state law passed by California voters in 2000, which requires school districts to make facilities (including both classroom and non-classroom spaces) available to public charter schools serving students who reside in the district. Prop. 39 amended Section 47614 of the California Education Code, which declared the intent of the people that public school facilities should be shared fairly among all public school pupils, including those in charter schools.
Prop. 39 required that each school district must make available, to each eligible charter school operating in the district, facilities sufficient for the charter school to accommodate all of its in-district students in conditions reasonably equivalent to those in which the students would be accommodated if they were attending other public schools of the district. In 2003 the Los Angeles Unified School District (“LAUSD”) determined that Prop. 39 established that charter school students that live within LAUSD boundaries are entitled to space at the LAUSD district schools they would have otherwise attended, and that all Los Angeles County residents, including parents of charter school students, pay rent/property taxes that go towards LAUSD facilities and, therefore, charter schools’ in-district students are legally entitled to space on LAUSD campuses. As a result, each year LAUSD must undergo a space identification process to meet Proposition 39 facilities requests submitted by charter schools.
In 2018 LAUSD received a proposal from GANAS Academy to co-locate on the campus of Catskill Elementary School in the City of Carson, and teachers at Catskill Elementary School were notified of the request on December 13, 2018 under the provisions of Prop. 39. Under Section 47614 and its own policies, LAUSD offered GANAS Academy the Catskill Elementary School site on February 26.
Catskill Elementary School has operated in Carson for over 71 years and currently has 522 students, 30% of whom are English Language Learners and 90% of whom qualify for Federal Title 1 funding. The parents and teachers at Catskill Elementary School have expressed concern that the co-location of a private Charter School will destabilize the learning environment of a demographically challenged but improving school. Further, they have indicated that they believe the facilities analysis of the school conducted by LAUSD, which determines sufficient unutilized or underutilized classrooms, is flawed, as these rooms contribute to the enrichment of the school as computer or science labs, mental health services or intervention rooms, and art spaces, and the co-location of a private Charter School will contribute to loss or diminishment of these services and denigrate the resources and facilities, and produce a negative effect on the quality of education of Catskill Elementary School students. Ultimately such a decline in quality would lead to a decline in enrollment. Such a decline in enrollment at Catskill Elementary School could result in the further loss of teachers, Federal Title 1 funding, and other LAUSD resources.
LAUSD has received thousands of signatures from the Carson community opposing this action, and parents and teachers have petitioned the City on behalf of students at Catskill Elementary School for support of their position prior to the May 1, 2019 deadline for GANAS Academy to accept the LAUSD offer of the facility and entering into an agreement for the space.
The City of Carson has no formal role in this dispute between the teachers and parents, LAUSD, and the Private Charter School. However, several dozen teachers and parents attended the April 16 City Council meeting, requesting that the City support them in their opposition to LAUSD’s decision to co-locate GANAS Academy, a private charter school, on their campus. This resolution was not added to the agenda on April 16.
The Resolution offers support for the teachers, parents and students at Catskill Elementary School in this issue.
V. FISCAL IMPACT
None.
VI. EXHIBITS
1. RESOLUTION NO. 19-086. (pgs. 4-6)
2. RESOLUTION NO. 19-094. (pgs. 7-9)
Prepared by: John S. Raymond, Acting City Manager