UPDATE, January 13, 2011: Five people "connected to" the Sweetwater Union High School District (SUHSD) are appearing in San Diego court today to be arraigned on charges of bribery, accused of setting up a "pay to play" scheme with consruction companies that were bidders on major school upgrade projects. The story on this morning's NBC San Diego, reports the five include the former SUHSD superintendent Jesus Gandara, at left, (who was fired last summer, accused of misspending funds); former board president Gregory Sandoval; current board president, Pearl Quinones; and current board member, Arlie Ricasa. The complaints include a detail that one construction company allegedly paid a $1,000 beauty pageant fee for Gandara's daughter and a $500 beauty pageant scholarhip for Sandoval's daugher.
Sweetwater, in Chula Vista, south San Diego County, has had is problems in both its regular school district and its high school district over the past year. Earlier stories covered on this site include:
UPDATE, December 2, 2011: Sweetwater Unified School District (SUSD)has agreed to include middle school students who attend charter schools the district-wide "Compact for Success." The Compact is a guaranteed enrollment program developed by the district in cooperation with San Diego State University.
From the San Diego Union Tribune, reported by Tawny Maya-McCray:
Details of the tentative agreement are being finalized. Some aspects include: Sweetwater district schools will be able to promote their programs to parents of prospective students, as charter schools do; the district and the charter schools will collaborate in curriculum alignment so all students earn high school credits and fulfill the A-G requirements needed to attend public universities; and charter school students will be able to participate in Sweetwater's intramural sports program.
Previously reported:
Attorneys representing the California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) filed a complaint November 23 with the Sweetwater Union High School District (SUHSD) in Chula Vista, south San Diego county, alleging it violated the civil rights of students in local charter schools.
Plaintiffs argue new district policies exclude charter school students from participation in district-run programs, and are therefore unlawful and discriminatory. The CCSA is a nonprofit that advocates on behalf of local charter schools; its Charter Schools Legal Defense Fund litigates issues on behalf of charter schools and students.
The new policies highlight one school district's tactics to retain students as ever-increasing numbers move to charter schools; the story was reported by Karen Kucher, Ashley Mcgone, and Tawny Maya for the San Diego Union-Tribune.
SUHSD is the largest secondary high school district in the nation (7th-12th grade). According to Dataquest, SUHSD enrolled 41,426 students in 2010-11--75% are Hispanic; however, in 2008-09, enrollment was at 42,804. This totals 1376 students who have moved to local charter schools in the last 2 years. This school year alone, 530 middle school students chose to enroll in five non-district charter schools, costing SUHSD $3.18 million in state average daily attendance funding.
Fighting back, the Acting Superintendent of SUHSD Ed Brand has recently implemented several controversial policies. (Brand served as superintendent from 1995-2005; in June 2011, he came out of retirement to replace Jesus Gandara whose tenureship became mired in controversy over personal spending at at time when the district was forced to make $23 million budget cuts).
Compact for Success, an agreement (crafted by Brand in 1999) with San Diego State University (SDSU) offers automatic acceptance to district high school students meeting the 5 benchmarks; since 2000, 11,833 district students have attended San Diego State through the agreement.
The benchmarks: at least a 3.0 GPA through junior and senior year, completion of all CSU A–G course requirements with a grade of C or higher, the ELM (Entry Level Math Placement Test) and the EPT (Entry Level English Placement Test), as well as the SAT and ACT exams. There is also a tuition assistence component with the program.
However, as of October 2011, the agreement now requires "continuous enrollment in Sweetwater Union High School Disctrict schools from 7th to 12th grade" as the 5th benchmark, excluding middle school students who attend local charters, irregardless of whether they go on to enroll in the district for high school or not. (Previously, students only had to show continuous enrollment from 9th to 12th grade).
Brand has allowed an exception for 8th graders currently enrolled in charter schools; 7th graders will be eligible if they move to a district school by December 16th.
In another move to exclude these middle school students, SUHSD has also limited participation in the South Bay YMCA sports league to in-district students; leagues include boys and girls basketball, soccer and flag football teams, as well as baseball, softball and girls volleyball.
Brand said that he wanted his district’s middle schools to offer the sports program as a benefit not available at the nondistrict schools, including charters run in neighboring districts including the Chula Vista Elementary and South Bay Union school districts.
“I think it is a choice parents have to make,” he said. “People have to make an informed decision. We are not afraid of the competition, but there is a consequence when you choose not to be a part of our district. We can’t have carte blanche anymore.”
Currently schools in the league pay the YMCA for coaches, while SUHSD coordinates the game schedules and referees; non-district schools pay a separate fee to SUHSD in order to offset costs.
In addition, the district has also launched an aggressive campaign handing out leaflets in school parking lots intended to draw students from nondistrict charter schools into its middle schools.
Gregory Moser, CCSA senior vice president for legal advocacy, and Ricardo Soto, CCSA general counsel, wrote in the complaint with SUSHD that the leaflets contained false information about the local charter schools regarding teachers' qualifications, the rigor of the programs, campus safety, and the eligibility of charter students for financial aid. It also claims the district has refused to give credit for high school classes completed by middle school students in the charter schools.
The letter also asks the district to stop “illegally promising gifts (netbooks) to students as an inducement to enrollment”
It urged the district to suspend a Dec. 16 deadline for charter school students to register at Sweetwater schools and thus be eligible for the compact; the suspension would allow time for the district to investigate the issue further.
The attorneys called on Sweetwater’s school board to hold a special meeting to cease and desist its actions, including the exclusion of charter students from the sports league and Compact for Success.
Written for California's Chidren by Elizabeth J Carlyle.
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