East Side trustees approve revocation of Esquea Popular charters after staff finds credentialing lapses

East Side Union High School District trustees voted on April 2 to approve staff recommendations to revoke the charters of Esquea Popular Center for Training and Careers (CTC) and Esquea Popular Accelerated Family Learning Center (AFLC), concluding a months‑long oversight process focused on teacher credentialing and substitute staffing.

District staff told the board that investigations beginning in Fall 2025 found persistent gaps between the schools’ staffing and state credentialing requirements. Philip Gideon, the district coordinator for charter oversight, said the district issued a notice of violation in October 2025, allowed a remedy period and repeatedly requested documentation. The district later received a vendor roster it says showed 25 of 46 contracted substitute individuals lacked credentials, permits or English‑learner (EL) authorizations and that staff had documented roughly 190 instances during the school year when non‑credentialed adults provided instruction. Associate Superintendent Teresa Marquez recommended revocation and asked the board to adopt staff’s findings of fact and notify county and state authorities.

“Under Education Code and the charter, we are obligated to ensure students are taught by appropriately credentialed educators,” Superintendent Glenn Vandery told trustees as he framed the staff recommendation.

Esquea Popular’s executive director, Patricia Reguerin, and the school’s counsel disputed the district presentation during the public hearing. Attorney Ellen Dodie told the board the school had provided detailed written responses, including rosters and credential documents, and that district materials presented at the hearing overstated or introduced evidence not included in the October notice of violation. Dodie argued the district’s own January 29 review showed 35 of 39 teachers fully credentialed and said the remaining gaps involved emergency 30‑day substitute permits that legal advisers — including staff at the Commission on Teacher Credentialing the school consulted — said may be used for EL assignments within the 30‑day limit.

“Our school has been serving this community for 40 years. Closure would disrupt hundreds of adult learners and TK–12 students,” said Reguerin, noting the program’s bilingual services and wraparound supports.

Counsel for the charters described months of off‑and‑on negotiations with the district that sought an agreement the charterists said would have required surrendering appeal rights and giving the district exclusive authority over dispute resolution. The charters declined those terms and asked the board to consider an off‑ramp that preserved neutral dispute review.

The hearing included extended public comment. Dozens of current students, alumni, parents, teachers and local leaders — including Councilmember Peter Ortiz — described Esquea Popular as a community lifeline for immigrant families and urged alternatives to closure. Students and adult learners detailed how the school’s programs, child care and bilingual instruction enabled them to pursue college and steady work.

Board members debated whether the district had given the school a reasonable opportunity to cure violations and whether the vendor‑substitute evidence had been disclosed in a timely fashion. Some trustees said they were moved by community testimony but felt bound by the district’s legal obligations and the evidence staff presented; at least one trustee said the district and school failed to reach an acceptable memorandum of understanding that would guarantee compliance.

After a recess and additional deliberations the board voted to adopt staff recommendations. The motion carried with a majority of trustees voting in favor; at least one trustee recorded a no vote during the final roll calls.

The board’s action triggers statutory notice and administrative steps: staff said they will notify the County Board of Education and the California Department of Education and record written factual findings supporting the revocation. Esquea Popular’s leaders said they plan to appeal the decision through available administrative and legal channels.

What the district cited and what the school contested are narrow but consequential technical matters: whether substitute teachers provided by a contracted vendor met the statutory permit and EL‑authorization requirements, whether the school timely supplied requested documentation and whether the district relied on evidence or legal arguments not included in the initial notice of violation. Esquea Popular’s lawyers argued in the hearing that the vendor issue was remedied in early February and that the district’s reliance on vendor records assembled later in the process deprived the school of a fair opportunity to respond.

Next steps: according to staff, the district will forward its written findings to county and state education officials and the chartering authority process will continue under Education Code timelines. Esquea Popular announced it will pursue administrative appeal and (if necessary) litigation; community members said they will continue advocacy to preserve services for the students affected.

The board action leaves unresolved where students and hundreds of adult learners would continue their programs if the revocations are upheld on appeal. The district and the school both acknowledged that transition planning and placement are serious, complex matters that would need to be addressed before any closure became effective.