Cornerstone Academy’s charter should be renewed
On a Tuesday evening in late October, I was among the hundreds of parents at Alpha Cornerstone Academy — one of the highest-performing schools in Franklin-McKinley School District — getting ready to celebrate the renewal of the school’s charter for another five years. The school district staff had issued an enthusiastically positive report and recommended renewal. And we knew that Cornerstone students were knocking it out of the park, consistently outperforming the district and state averages.
But a few hours later, our world turned upside down when the Franklin-McKinley School District Board of Education suddenly voted 3-2 to close our school. We were shocked. Some of our kids had been enrolled at Cornerstone since kindergarten. Others had seen our children struggle at other schools until we found Cornerstone, whose educators finally ignited our kids’ abilities and passions. We had come to depend on Cornerstone’s caring and committed teachers and staff, and we could not understand why the district would want to shut down the school.
The reasons provided still do not add up. FMSD stated that Cornerstone students with disabilities are not making academic progress, but in fact Cornerstone students with disabilities outperform students at both district and state levels. As the mother of a special needs child, I was shocked. My son, despite his medical condition of Tourette’s syndrome, has performed very well at Cornerstone. He exceeded standards in math and English on the state Smarter Balanced tests last year, thanks to his caring teachers who always push and encourage him to achieve his potential.
FMSD stated that Cornerstone does not serve enough students with disabilities, but the school serves a percentage of students with disabilities comparable to other district schools. Furthermore, Cornerstone has always served students with a wide range of disabilities, including intellectual disabilities and autism.
Families were also troubled to see our children’s ethnicities being used as a reason to close our school. FMSD stated that Cornerstone does not have enough Latino students and has too many Vietnamese students. But Cornerstone is not allowed to set admission preferences or quotas based on ethnicity. Cornerstone serves every student who walks through its doors. The school recruits in every major language spoken in the community. In its report, FMSD staff did not find a single barrier to entry for students who want to enroll in Cornerstone.
Just 200 yards away from Cornerstone is College Connection Academy, the highest performing traditional school in the district. It serves a larger percentage of Vietnamese students than Cornerstone. FMSD district regularly touts CCA as a model of excellence. Shouldn’t Cornerstone receive the same recognition?
Cornerstone is living up to the promises of public education. To close the school would be deeply unfair to the hundreds of Cornerstone parents who have found a learning environment that equips their children with the academic and socio-emotional skills they’ll need to thrive in college and career.
Later this month the Santa Clara County Office of Education board will review Cornerstone’s petition and determine whether the school’s charter should be renewed. As one of hundreds of parents who has witnessed Cornerstone’s unique culture and transformative impact, I urge the county Board of Education to do what’s best for children: Evaluate the school on its merits and put politics aside. The answer will be clear: Cornerstone should keep serving kids.