Feb 23 PCSB meeting thread
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Anonymous
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https://dcpcsb.org/board-meeting-february-2026
Reviews for LEARN, Rocketship, and Thurgood Marshall. Wildflower Financial Corrective Action Plan Discussion of Expansion Policy Revision to SSMA probation terms. Should be a lengthy and interesting meeting! |
Anonymous
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Wildflower is so small with only 28 students that even small financial/enrollment gaps will cause big ripples.
In the last PCSB financial analysis report, Wildflower went from having satisfactory financials with all indicators being above target to the charter board documenting "a significant decline in its financial health and KFIs, with none of the six indicators remaining above target." The only other two charters that met none of the financial targets were Capital Village (closing) and Eagle (closed). |
Anonymous
| No news is good news? They haven't put out any materials for the meeting. |
Anonymous
| Not yet. They never do on the weekend. I assume it will come up sometime tomorrow. It's very frustrating to hear their claims of transparency when things are not available until a few days or even just hours before the meeting. And of course, what is likely to happen is they'll present and approve the decisions that were actually made at the short-notice closed meetings that precede the open meeting. So much transparency! |
Anonymous
The last charter board chair made a big deal about families being informed. In board meetings, consistently raising the ideal of keeping families informed and being transparent. Yet they have no standards for getting out materials that give families a chance to review and weigh in. It’s odd. |
Anonymous
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Meeting materials are up!
LEARN: Good enough in the most recent year. Rocketship: Approve, ugh. I guess one sort of okay year outweighs several bad years. The drastic enrollment decline remains, so still at risk of failure even with this permissive board. Some acknowledgement of leadership and organizational failures in Attachment B. The parent org forgave a $2.5 million loan to Rocketship DC. Current year enrollment is 1083, down from 1197 last year. Thurgood Marshall: Same pattern where the most recent year is okay but the prior years weren't so good. Financially okay. Wildflower: Three-year FCAP. Very nearly missed payroll in July 2025. Numerous metrics will be closely monitored. Potential revocation for noncompliance with reporting or financial status. SFMR: Statesman is off the list. Social Justice and St. Coletta remain on the list, also Wildflower and Capital Village. SSMA: PCSB wanted its staff to toughen up the terms. Includes academic performance requirements. Anyway, we'll see what happens! Looks like a bunch of slow-motion failure. |
Anonymous
I hate this so much -- not because you are wrong but because you are right. We have so many charters and DCPS schools that are doing well that it doesn't make sense that a "permissive" board is letting failures continue. The kids have better options -- better academically and also accessible. I suppose the board doesn't want to make any outright closure decisions and would rather give conditions and see if the schools will close themselves. |
Anonymous
It's just embarrassing that Rocketship is doing poorly compared to nearby DCPS! Come on people, isn't that the point of this whole endeavor? And I think slow motion failure is harmful. Kids going to a dying school when they could be at a better one. |
Anonymous
| This is awfully late in the lottery season to be considering school closures and give families a shot at finding a suitable alternative. They really need to move these reviews even earlier. |
Anonymous
Yes generally true but in the past when the charter board didn't act at all or early enough, the schools closed themselves at much worse times for families. Hopefully, this year is different as there aren't any conditions proposed for the schools up for review. With no conditions, there's no reason for them to abruptly decide to close. |
Anonymous
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Catching up on the meeting now. Starts with a bunch of verbiage about excellence and high standards, and oversight.
Walker-Davis starts talking about the KIPP article (https://dclocal.substack.com/p/the-stunning-collapse-of-kipp-dc). Blah blah intentional, always so very intentional while passing along any school that comes close to reaching the bare minimum standard. So much excellence, while they're passing along SSMA, Rocketship, Thurgood Marshall, and LEARN for the amazing feat of not failing in just the most recent year. Some Rocketship families do public comments. I'm skipping Global Citizens location change since it's not that far from the current location. The permit and construction timeline does seem pretty tight though. Approved. Next is LEARN. |
Anonymous
| Can't believe they are moving Rocketship along. It needs serious help and I don't think the admin staff can do it. It starts at home. Those teachers have to deal with so many needs in one classroom and for the pay, oh no. |
Anonymous
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LEARN tries to explain their early low performance-- basically leadership instability and hiring unqualified teachers. Says things are improving with more teacher training and more structure. About 75% of families are military (down from 90%), more off-base families is a goal. Improved enrollment and re-enrollment. Financial improvement. Discussion of parent company finances.
Rocketship: They clearly know they're in trouble and are very conciliatory. Discussion of changes in leadership, and not implementing their model with fidelity and not intervening fast enough to low performance. More regional/national supervision. Offloading Appletree to save money. Marino: Your academic stats are low, growth and proficiency both, why? Rocketship: Inconsistent and misaligned leadership, being off model, need for tutoring and instructional coaching. Adamoh-Faniyan: Enrollment decline is huge, why? Answer is hard to understand, something about wellness and unstable leadership, new curriculum, attendance. OSSE improvement plan involves SPED compliance. Williams asks about enrollment as well, and truancy, calls out cycle of gaining then losing gains. Stanley Beatty: We have to evaluate your past performance, not just future potential. How are you cutting costs without impacting programming? By in-sourcing things, and some things are provided by parent org so not closely tied to per capita. Stanley Beatty: Your model calls for growth to 5,000 kids, how? We can run sustainable schools of various sizes. Yan: Skeptical of enrollment. We have lots of lottery applications. Marino: My concerns are so serious, and kids can't wait, so I'm moving for high stakes academic conditions and removing authorization for growth up to 8 campuses. Williams seconds. Clearly this was teed up in advance bc Crusey left a proxy. Unanimously passes. So excited to have some real conditions! Although I still think at least the Legacy campus should have been closed-- it's ridiculous to have egregiously low performance and then pass because of a slight uptick. I'll finish recapping tomorrow (if I feel like it). |
Anonymous
| Thank you for your service! |
Anonymous
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Oh guru, when you return, if you feel like it, please cover DC Wildflower/Riverseed's potential insolvency.
"In early July 2025, the LEA came close to not meeting its payroll obligations. The LEA's FY 2025 audited financial statements received December 10, 2025 portray a declining financial picture, with below-floor financial indicators including 7 days of cash on hand and a 0.3 current ratio. The FY 2025 audit report raises substantial doubt about the LEA's ability to continue as a going concern for a reasonable period." |