Charter leaders and students press LAUSD committee on renewals and a separate Virtual Academy graduation

During an extended public comment period, charter advocates, principals, alumni and families addressed the Charter Schools Committee about renewals, program success and student experiences; multiple Virtual Academy students also urged the board to allow an independent graduation ceremony.

Keith Del Aquila of the California Charter Schools Association urged the board to "learn quickly" from renewal patterns that he said disproportionately affect charters serving higher percentages of Black students, homeless students and English learners: "a charter school that is serving a higher percentage of black students...is more likely to be closed by this board," he said.

David Richardson (also with the California Charter Schools Association) and leaders from charter networks highlighted recent California Distinguished School recognitions for LA-area charter schools and urged more cross-sector collaboration and campus visits to share effective practices.

Multiple alumni and teachers from Burke Corona and other charters shared personal accounts of student growth, community ties and academic gains (one teacher reported a classroom reached 138% of typical I-Ready growth by January), while principals described Universal Design for Learning and co-teaching results that produced measurable DFS/CAASPP gains.

A substantial block of public comment was delivered by students and families from LAUSD's Leadership and Public Service Virtual Academy asking the board to authorize an independent graduation ceremony rather than the combined ceremony they currently attend. Speakers including Thakur Singh, Christopher Stella Torres, Brianna Hernandez, Sebastian Hernandez and Isabella Teres said students overwhelmingly support an independent graduation (they cited "80%" in speaker remarks), argued that planning and fundraising are already in place and asked the board to instruct Virtual Academy leadership to grant the request.

Board procedure: Mr. McLean announced in-person speakers would be called first with two-minute limits and then remote callers would be taken.

Outcome: The committee heard multiple perspectives and no formal action was taken during the meeting on the subjects raised in public comment. The meeting adjourned with the next committee date set for May 14.

Sources: Public comment segment of the LAUSD Charter Schools Committee meeting, comments from Keith Del Aquila, David Richardson, charter school staff and several Virtual Academy students and parents.