Another One Bites the Dust - 2nd Charter Closure

[Anonymous]

A second charter school voted to close tonight. Apparently, they estimated they wouldn’t meet authorizer conditions to continue to operate past next year.

The school - Hope Tolson in Brookland - is the lowest performing elementary middle school in the city. It’s interesting that that data point alone wasn’t enough for the authorizer to revoke them, but alas they didn’t so the school decided on its own.

The authorizer review meeting for this school shows a real failure of both boards - authorizer (PCSB) and the Hope charter board. Glad to see that at least one of those entities (Hope) finally decided to do the right thing.

[Anonymous]

Link?

It was weird how the PCSB held off actually closing it and instead imposed conditions that would be nearly impossible to meet. I wonder why.

[Anonymous]

I see a third PCSB meeting has been added for April 29 (they already had one for April 28). Is that what it's about?

[Anonymous]

I think PCSB doesn't want to close them because it isn't sure how many more will die of natural causes and how many seats the city will need, so it's just imposing conditions and letting the enrollment process shake out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think PCSB doesn't want to close them because it isn't sure how many more will die of natural causes and how many seats the city will need, so it's just imposing conditions and letting the enrollment process shake out.

I think you are right. Still, when some schools are so bad that nearly half of families leave each year and they are at the bottom for educating kids, doesn’t the PCSB have some responsibility for ensuring kids aren’t in bad places? It’s like they haven’t learned from the other school collapse last year where the school wasn’t financially viable and decided to close a few days before school started. This Hope school had lots of academic problems but they also had such declines in enrollment that they didn’t think they could stay open financially. Isn’t that something the PCSB should know??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think PCSB doesn't want to close them because it isn't sure how many more will die of natural causes and how many seats the city will need, so it's just imposing conditions and letting the enrollment process shake out.

I think you are right. Still, when some schools are so bad that nearly half of families leave each year and they are at the bottom for educating kids, doesn’t the PCSB have some responsibility for ensuring kids aren’t in bad places? It’s like they haven’t learned from the other school collapse last year where the school wasn’t financially viable and decided to close a few days before school started. This Hope school had lots of academic problems but they also had such declines in enrollment that they didn’t think they could stay open financially. Isn’t that something the PCSB should know??

The PCSB definitely knows those things. The hearing video is online and it's interesting-- the school leader is very candid. It seems like a big part of the problem was not being able to get out of their lease, which was more square footage than they needed.

Since Hope's stats were so egregiously low, I was sure they would be closed and I was dismayed that the PCSB didn't close them. But perhaps it was a play for time while they waited to see how the lottery shook out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A second charter school voted to close tonight. Apparently, they estimated they wouldn’t meet authorizer conditions to continue to operate past next year.

The school - Hope Tolson in Brookland - is the lowest performing elementary middle school in the city. It’s interesting that that data point alone wasn’t enough for the authorizer to revoke them, but alas they didn’t so the school decided on its own.

The authorizer review meeting for this school shows a real failure of both boards - authorizer (PCSB) and the Hope charter board. Glad to see that at least one of those entities (Hope) finally decided to do the right thing.

Did you attend their meeting tonight? Their agenda says they were going to have a closed session, so it would be odd to know for sure before the recording is posted.

[Anonymous]

I was always confused by how many cars dropping off and picking up there do not have DC plates. Like why cheat residency for a low performing school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was always confused by how many cars dropping off and picking up there do not have DC plates. Like why cheat residency for a low performing school?

Probably because they were already attending, then lost/couldn't afford housing in DC but didn't want to switch schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was always confused by how many cars dropping off and picking up there do not have DC plates. Like why cheat residency for a low performing school?

There are a lot of reasons it can happen. Could be people who recently moved and haven’t updated their plates yet (and that would make some sense, they’d probably have fewer appealing options if they missed the lottery, etc), could be split custody situations, could be another relative dropping them off or a babysitter/nanny, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was always confused by how many cars dropping off and picking up there do not have DC plates. Like why cheat residency for a low performing school?

There are a lot of reasons it can happen. Could be people who recently moved and haven’t updated their plates yet (and that would make some sense, they’d probably have fewer appealing options if they missed the lottery, etc), could be split custody situations, could be another relative dropping them off or a babysitter/nanny, etc.

Lots of reasons. Because their school where they live isn't any better. Because they like their teacher or like their school for some reason other than quality. Because they are cheating on their car registration fees by pretending to live in MD when really they live in DC. Because they're getting a ride from someone. I'm not defending it, but there are lots of reasons other than school quality.

[Anonymous]

Wow. So this one is gone (200+ kids) and Latin Cooper is also moving out of their temporary space in Edgewood. This should make a big difference in area traffic around the Franklin St.Bridge.

I wonder if any school wants the Hope building.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow. So this one is gone (200+ kids) and Latin Cooper is also moving out of their temporary space in Edgewood. This should make a big difference in area traffic around the Franklin St.Bridge.

I wonder if any school wants the Hope building.

That's an interesting point, but three charters closing essentially this school year, how could anyone justify a new school? I'd bet the city would take it back -- but I guess that also depends on who actually owns the building. Who did Hope lease the building from?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. So this one is gone (200+ kids) and Latin Cooper is also moving out of their temporary space in Edgewood. This should make a big difference in area traffic around the Franklin St.Bridge.

I wonder if any school wants the Hope building.

That's an interesting point, but three charters closing essentially this school year, how could anyone justify a new school? I'd bet the city would take it back -- but I guess that also depends on who actually owns the building. Who did Hope lease the building from?

The city does not own it. It's a private landlord, who refused to renegotiate the lease and now has no tenant until it gets a new one.

I think the unstated rationale for new charters would be that the PCSB doesn't want to lose market share. But also, they assess demand by grade level and intended location, so the closure of, say, Eagle and I Dream, both preschool and lower elementary only, doesn't have much bearing on for example a proposal for a new high school on the opposite side of the city.

[Anonymous]

BASIS, now is your chance! You can have the Hope building and make offers to all the kids!