More than 100 students, parents, teachers and administrators
packed into the Gilroy Unified School District board room for a
2.5-hour, standing-room-only torrent of tears, laughter, applause
and passionate testimony about experiences at El Portal Leadership
Academy. However, the dismal test scores and financial instability
of Gilroy’s only charter school cast a cloud over the crowd’s
glowing reviews as GUSD trustees posed some tough questions
regarding the school’s financial and academic viability.
More than 100 students, parents, teachers and administrators packed into the Gilroy Unified School District board room for a 2.5-hour, standing-room-only torrent of tears, laughter, applause and passionate testimony about experiences at El Portal Leadership Academy. However, the dismal test scores and financial instability of Gilroy’s only charter school cast a cloud over the crowd’s glowing reviews as GUSD trustees posed some tough questions regarding the school’s financial and academic viability.
The school district recently entered into a $10,000 contract with consultants Total School Solutions to scrutinize the finances and academic progress of El Portal – run by the Mexican American Community Services Agency. The findings, which were presented at Thursday night’s board meeting, were bleak. The audit confirmed that MACSA owes its El Portal employees $140,139.93 in late retirement payments, money which administrators skimmed from employees without telling them so that the agency could pay operating and program expenses. This scandal comes on top of already shaky finances, according to Kari Sousa, a representative from Total School Solutions. The nonprofit previously confirmed that it owes employees of its San Jose charter school, Academia Calmecac, an additional $250,000.
“I don’t think it’s uncommon for a charter school to operate on a fairly slim margin,” Sousa said. “What is uncommon is not meeting obligations in terms of retirement contributions. That’s an indication that there’s more going on here than we see. It’s very uncommon.”
District staff’s report on the school’s academic progress revealed that the school struggles on state standardized tests and lacks the instructional tools it needs to move student progress forward.
But many of the 37 members of the audience who took to the microphone asked the school board to separate the school’s financial woes from its place in the community and its academic performance. Several students who were teased, involved in gangs and in danger of dropping out of school when they were at Gilroy High School found success at El Portal, they said.
“Before I came to El Portal, I was always by myself,” said Janette Garcia, a senior at El Portal whose voice shook with emotion during her address to the school board. When she broke down into tears, El Portal’s principal joined her at the podium for support.
“I never thought I would go to college,” Garcia said, going on to tell the board that she had been accepted to the National Hispanic University to the applause of the audience.
Other students described how their grades shot up from straight Fs to As and Bs when they enrolled at El Portal.
Board members didn’t dispute the need for a school like El Portal in Gilroy, however, and many emphasized the school’s value. But the deficiencies highlighted by the financial and academic audits raised concerns among board members and district staff.
“There are so many questions that were not answered,” trustee Denise Apuzzo said. “Academically, they’re not succeeding. If everybody is getting As and Bs, why aren’t they proficient on state tests. The accountability doesn’t match up.”
Though the president of MACSA’s charter school board disputed the verity of the data presented by the district, he said the board has been diligently pursuing many of the same issues audited by the district and will be presenting their own report April 9.
The GUSD school board hoped to have the MACSA board’s report in hand for further consideration at an April 23 board meeting.
