2 charters denied alternative school status

ADE disputed at-risk enrollment numbers

Two Tucson-area charter schools have become the first campuses in five years to be denied alternative-school status, following an Arizona Republic investigation that revealed the alternative designation has allowed some of the state’s poorest-performing schools to avoid scrutiny and closure.

After The Republic published its report in February, the Arizona Department of Education established a new process for vetting schools seeking an alternative designation.

Last month, ADE denied Tucson’s Lifelong Learning Academy’s alternative-school application as well as that of Lifelong’s sister campus, Jack Thoman Air and Space Academy and Performing Arts Studio in Green Valley.

They were the first such denials since 2014.

Alternative schools are supposed to primarily enroll students considered at risk of dropping out. The schools

also are currently exempt from receiving the state letter grades that are the public’s primary means for gauging the quality of Arizona public schools.

In its application, Lifelong Learning said it enrolled 22 at-risk students, but ADE found otherwise. The school also didn’t state that its mission is to serve at-risk students.

“We were concerned about their mission statement and we were really concerned that they didn’t serve an alternative population, and the (Arizona State Board for Charter Schools) shared those concerns,” said ADE spokesman Stefan Swiat.

A representative of Lifelong Learning Research Institute, the nonprofit that owns both schools, said she disagreed with ADE’s decision, as well as its rules for designating alternative schools.

“They believed we should have used the words ‘at risk’ and other things, and that is not politically correct or compassionately correct,” Mary Lou Klem, the charter’s director, told The Republic.

ADE’s action, however, is a notable shift from from what The Republic found in its investigation:

Operated mostly by charter school owners, alternative schools were intended to serve students who struggle or are severely behind on credits, according to the state’s definition. ADE’s lax vetting of the schools had created a system where the state’s lowest-performing students end up in schools with the least public accountability and the lowest expectations for progress.

Starting next year, the state will evaluate alternative schools using a less-rigorous grading criteria than it uses for standard public schools, which may help alternative schools avoid failing grades.

Since 2010, the number of Arizona students enrolled in alternative charter schools has increased by nearly 40 percent, according to a Republic analysis of enrollment data.

Nestled between a Circle K and a Sonic along one of north Tucson’s main drags, a blue-lettered sign above Lifelong Learning’s entrance reads “Air and Space Academy” — even though the school has no connection to aviation or a STEM-based curriculum.

On its website, the K-8 school promises specialized instruction for students with autism. But the school provides no services specific to autistic students, according to the Charter Board, and employs just one teacher who instructs all grade levels.

It also touts an “A” rating on promotional material. But the school hasn’t received a letter grade since the state began administering them.

Lifelong Learning has been exempt from Arizona’s annual letter grades during that time because the school has operated for two years as an alternative school, even though it wasn’t eligible, according to state officials.

Lifelong’s sister school, Jack Thoman, this year applied for alternative status for the first time. Last year, it received an “F” grade from the state.

Charter schools that receive two consecutive failing grades from the state automatically forfeit their state contracts.

During a brief phone interview, Klem did not explain why she sought to have her schools designated as alternative campuses. She did not return subsequent calls.

Because the state has exempted alternative schools from annual letter grades, alternative status could have spared Jack Thoman and Lifelong Learning Academy from further scrutiny.

A review of Lifelong’s most recent annual audit shows the school lost nearly $25,000 in 2018.

Charter Board representatives visited Lifelong Learning Academy as part of a scheduled site visit in April, the same month ADE denied its alternative application.

They found numerous violations of the school’s charter contract.

Lifelong had been advertising itself as a STEM school for autistic children, but auditors found it was not “evident that the School has a specified educational program to instruct students with autism or to provide a STEM education.”

It spent just $10,000 on special education instruction during the 2017-18 school year, according to financial records filed with the state.

The Charter Board found no contract on file for an “Air and Space Academy” even though the school had been operating under that name. Schools are required to notify the Charter Board of any name change.

State officials said Lifelong might never have met the requirements to operate as an alternative school, in part, because its mission statement does not mention serving at-risk students.

Requirements set forth by the Arizona State Board of Education and the Charter Board specify that schools seeking alternative status must prove they serve at-risk students by saying so in their mission statements and by providing the agency with student records.

Last year ADE approved Lifelong’s application despite the school’s failure to meet those requirements.

Auditors also found the school failed to obtain fingerprint clearance for some staff members. The clearances are required to conduct national criminal background checks.

The school has been paying someone it designated as a “parent substitute,” a position it could not clearly describe to visiting staff from the Charter Board.

The Charter Board, the agency responsible for authorizing and regulating the state’s 500-plus charter schools, had required the school show it has resolved the violations by May 24.

The Charter Board is reviewing the schools’ responses. If it fails to address the issues, the Charter Board could withhold up to 10 percent of the school’s state funding or revoke its contract entirely.

In February, The Republic reported on gaps in the application process for alternative schools. It found the state had not been sufficiently vetting schools that had applied for alternative status, enabled schools seeking the status to skirt accountability, and undermined the efforts of schools dedicated to educating at-risk students.

Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman told The Republic at the time that her department would reevaluate its processes for reviewing alternative school applications. Documentation provided to The Republic by ADE shows it has significantly changed its application process.

Before, schools self-reported their enrollment of at-risk students, and ADE would try to verify the school’s data using its statewide student database. But even in instances where ADE couldn’t verify the schools enrolled at-risk students, the department approved applications.

Spokesman Stefan Swiat said this year the agency’s staff responsible for reviewing applications visited schools more often so they could comb through student records only available at the schools to confirm enrollment of at-risk students.

Swiat said communication with the Charter Board has also improved. The majority of schools with alternative status are operated by charters.

Many of the issues the Charter Board identified during its Lifelong site-visit could have been found sooner if the agency had more staff regularly visiting the 560 schools for which it is responsible.

“We don’t have the capacity to do as many site visits as we’d like to,” Charter Board Director Charles Tack said.

The budget approved by the Legislature on Monday funds 10 additional staff at the Charter Board.